


Afterwards

by elvirakitties



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Voldemort Dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-05-31 09:04:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6464233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elvirakitties/pseuds/elvirakitties
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dumbledore and Voldemort are dead, so why is the Ministry so interested in Harry even after five years? Why is he hiding?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It Starts

Lucius stood staring out the entrance of Hogwarts with a small grin on his face. He could see Severus and Harry were walking from the Forbidden Forest and had enjoyed themselves. "Lucius, we have a problem, Aurors on their way to search the Castle." Minerva informed him as she arrived at the entrance.

"What are they claiming now?" Lucius asked, watching Severus and Harry continue walking toward them.

"We are hiding Harry and they seem determined to bring him to the Ministry." Minerva sighed. "Why can't they just leave everything alone."

"No idea, you would think with both of them dead, we would be left alone." Lucius glanced at her. "How soon?" It had been six and half years since Dumbledore was killed and five years since Harry had killed Voldemort.

"Any minute now I am expecting them to appear at the gate. I expect they are going to do a room to room search again." 

Lucius heard the annoyance in her voice. "I will tell Severus and Harry." He started walking toward Severus and Harry. "Don't worry he is wearing protection." He didn't have to turn around to know Minerva's shoulders relaxed a bit from that news.

"I thought we were going to meet you in our quarters?" Severus asked. Harry and he had been gathering potion ingredients.

"Aurors are on their way, to search the Castle for Harry." They try not to smirk at the low-level growl that came from the lion that is walking next to Severus. "Kitten, how do you feel about scaring a few again?"

Kitten, the lion, just licked his lips. "You do realize there is going to be at least one of the morons who is going to fire a spell at him?" Severus asked as he pulled out one of his pouches. "Here." Severus gave Kitten some dried meat.

"Why do you insist on giving him that when they are coming I will never understand. I know you put catnip in it." Lucius ran his hands through Kitten's mane. "I will brush this later." He petted the solid black lion with deep yellow eyes. "Let's go and see what made them come and visit us this time."

They walked on either side of their lion until they saw the arrival of Aurors. Kitten roared and started to run after them. "You know we should warn them." Lucius said quietly, watching the lion as he was almost bouncing in his excitement of chasing Aurors. Usually, he got to chase the students but they weren't as much fun as the Aurors since the students knew he won't hurt them.

"I believe it's fun watching them run. Catnip makes him have fun anyways. You know he enjoys chasing them." 

"True. Maybe they will get the message finally and stop coming here." Lucius grinned as they saw Kitten begin to chase some of the Aurors. He looked like he is playing tag when he knocked one down he took off after another. He pounced on a few before they finally got the idea that they had wands and tried to cast a spell or two on the lion but nothing worked.

"You know that never gets old. I think next time we should see if he can knock down two or more at a time." Severus grinned, as they were slowly walking toward Hogwarts. 

"Don't run, he wants to play." They heard Draco yell after the men who are running. 

"He won't hurt you." Ron yelled to match his Auror partner, Draco. A few of the other Aurors who have experienced Kitten, were laughing at their comrades.

They finally arrived at the stairs to the doors of Hogwarts and Severus called, "Kitten come back here, you know recruits and trainees give you indigestion." 

Kitten looked mournfully at his running prey but headed back to Severus and Lucius. The new Aurors who were running stop and the taller of them gasped out "that is Kitten? I thought you meant a real kitten, not a bloody lion."

"We told you he likes to play." Draco finally stopped laughing. "You know Father, I think this needs to be the yearly test for new recruits."

"I believe Kitten enjoys it. So why are you here?"

"You know the fifth year anniversary is coming up and the Minister is determined we find Harry." Ron explained.

"So you are here for what reason, besides wasting time, money, and energy?" Severus asked. "I am sure any student would have reported seeing Mr. Potter by now."

"We have the right to search, Professor Snape." A short, skinny trainee with blond hair says stepping forward, moving into Severus' personal space.

Lucius and Severus exchanged a glance as Kitten let out a low growl. "I would back off, Christopher." Ron told the trainee. 

"Yes, Mr. Westin, I remember you." Severus remarked and turned to Lucius "You got lucky, he never took your class."

"Indeed." Lucius gave the youth a once over. "Much like his father?"

"Very much." Severus replied as he petted Kitten's head after he got his hand nudged. "Well, I am sure the Headmistress is eager to give you a guided tour."

The rest of the Aurors headed towards the entrance except for Draco and Ron. "What is the real reason?" Lucius asked.

"That is it, sadly." Draco shook his head. "I think they are losing it."

They headed into Hogwarts, Draco and Ron following behind Lucius, Severus, and Kitten. When they entered their quarters, Kitten went and laid down in front of the fireplace. "I wonder if someone will be brave enough to search in here?" Ron glanced around and pulled a cloak off of the peg. "Kitten up." The lion just looked at him. "We need to hide this and I don't think they will look under you." Kitten stood up and Ron placed the cloak under him. Kitten laid down on the cloak.

"I am sure someone is drawing the short straw on that." Draco commented. He began to look around to make sure nothing will give them away. 

"Why did you two come? I didn't think they would allow you to search?" Lucius asked as he came out of their bedroom. "All clear in there." He added. 

"To watch Kitten chase the recruits. We were off duty about an hour ago, but we heard of about this and had to come and watch." Ron said. "Severus, where is the catnip?"

"No, you don't, it's too late at night." Severus told him, coming out of his potion lab.

"You just gave him some catnip in the meat you carry." Lucius informed them.

"Yes, but a small dose only to make him have fun, now he is sleeping it off." Severus pointed to the purring lion. "Kitchen is all cleared."

"He got out in time?" Ron bent down and petted the lion. 

"Yes, Minerva gave us enough warning." Severus said as he sat down in his favorite chair.

"Well, as much fun as that was, I promised Hermione I would be home for dinner on time. So I best be going. May I use your floo?" Draco asked.

"Yes, tell her we will be there on Sunday." Lucius answered his son. 

"Malfoy Manor, Blondie." Draco gave them a smirk and disappeared into the flames.

"I better be going, I promised Luna and Neville I would be home on time too." Ron stood up. "May I?"

"Yes, see you on Sunday too?" 

"Yes, as usual." Ron replied "Longbottom Manor, Dreamy." He stepped into the floo.

"You know someday we should tell them that Kitten is Harry." Lucius remarked Kitten shook his head no.

"Fine, we will talk about it when you're you. They better not take all night to get brave enough to search in here." Severus said.


	2. Hiding In Plain Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months after the death of Voldemort

Lucius glanced at Severus as he entered the potions classroom. He could see Kitten was looking at him and was getting up. "Cover your cauldrons." Severus said, knowing lion fur was going to in the air as Kitten began to jog toward Lucius. "Take him for the walk, I will see you at lunch."

Lucius nodded his agreement and together lion and man left the classroom. As they were walking down the hall and towards the entrance he saw Minerva was waiting for them. 

"Lucius, I need to speak you and Severus after dinner. It's important." She scratched the back of Kitten's head, earning a smirk from Lucius as they heard Kitten start to purr.

Lucius looked around and quietly asked "Ministry?" Minerva gave a slight nod. "I will let him know." Lucius said in his normal speaking tone. "I will let him know after we get back from his exercise."

Minerva walked with them to the entrance. "There are some Aurors near the Forbidden Forest. Hidden, they think I don't know they are there. Have fun, Kitten." 

Kitten licked his lips. "He will." Lucius and lion exited Hogwarts. Lucius walked with Kitten until he sat on the bench just outside of the doors. "Go and find them." He watched as Kitten began to head to the Forbidden Forest. He saw him scent the air and heard the loud roar and soon Kitten was running. 

He grinned as spells are being fired, but nothing touched the lion, who was enjoying knocking the Aurors around. "Only three this time." He muttered to himself. Soon he heard the sound of several apparitions and knew the Aurors were gone. Kitten trotted back to him and sat down, but nudged Lucius' hand. Lucius summoned a brush and begun to brush Kitten's mane. "Did you have fun?" 

Kitten turned his head and nodded. Lucius continued brushing his mane until some students arrived and asked if they could play with Kitten. Kitten stood up and began to let the kids chase him around. 

________________________________________________________________

Kitten, Severus, and Lucius walked to the Headmistress' office. Severus glanced down to the lion by his side. "You want to do this?" The gargoyle moved before Kitten could roar at it like the first time Kitten and gargoyle meet. They climbed the stairs. 

"I didn't think that gargoyle will ever forget Kitten jumping on it and roaring in its ear." Lucius smirked as they rode the stairs.

"I found he is good at getting his way." Severus responded. 

They found Minerva sitting at her desk with tea ready. "Please sit." She picked up her wand and froze the paintings. "Now we can talk." She served them tea. "The Ministry is insisting on looking for Harry."

"It's been three months, why are they still looking for him?" Severus asked.

"They want the hero to be seen." Lucius sighed. "What did you find out?"

"Kingsley floo called me earlier. He wanted to know if Harry was here, wanted to check the safe houses and even Malfoy Manor." Minerva informed them.

"The Wizengamot is going to allow this?" Severus asked.

"It was denied. There was no cause for them to search." Lucius said. 

"Kingsley pulled out an old law it seems something about finding Harry for his protection. To keep him from being in danger. He wants to have the Ministry listed as guardian over Harry." Minerva said.

"He is over seventeen. Can they do that?" Severus asked.

"They can try, I will make sure it fails." Lucius informed him. "I didn't get a notice about a Wizengamot meeting."

"It goes to Wizengamot tomorrow. Kingsley wanted me to supply information to show Harry needs to be cared for." Minerva sighed again. "You would think they would just leave him alone."

"What kind of information?" Severus reached down and patted Kitten, trying to let him know it was going to be fine.

"Prove that he was spoiled and can't take care of himself because he always had others do it for him." Minerva glanced up at Albus Dumbledore's frozen painting. "If they pull the accounting, the theft will be revealed."

"We know he wasn't spoiled. Can they use his accounts?" Severus glanced at Lucius, he saw the man was thinking, he wondered what Lucius was planning on doing. He knew he knew nothing about most of their laws and Wizengamot.

"I am afraid if we let out he was abused, they might use that too. I am not sure which direction to head in." Minerva said honestly. "Harry did make the right choice when he requested our help to hide if they are doing this. They would have him locked up, in their clutches, to parade him around if he hadn't."

Lucius glanced down at Kitten. "Harry, we need to go to the bank, tonight. You need to sign some paperwork."

They all looked at Lucius. "You have an idea?"

"Yes, and it will stop them cold."

_____________________________________________________________

Lucius and Severus landed with Kitten between them. The lion shook his head and wobbled for a bit before settling into a solid stance. "You never could stick a landing." Severus muttered to Kitten. They headed out of the Leaky Cauldron. 

No one was surprised to see a lion walking with the two Professors from Hogwarts. Lucius had even taken Kitten to Wizengamot a few times. The first time they had shared the memories with all of the family. Lucius wasn't sure who enjoyed it more the Twins or Draco. They heard a shriek and then a call for Aurors. They didn't even bother to glance in the general direction from which the shriek emanated from.

They entered Gringotts and the goblins glanced up and one sent a memo to Ironclaw. They weren't in line long before Ironclaw appeared next to them. "This way gentlemen." Once in the office, Kitten turned into Harry.

After Ironclaw summoned tea, Lucius began to explain the problem. "The Ministry, in their ignorance, has decided to see if they can claim Harry can't take care of himself by using some outdated laws. They want to become Harry's guardian."

Ironclaw thought for a few minutes. "The law they are referencing doesn't allow for that to happen to any children declared an adult. Mr. Potter was declared an adult by the Ministry and your own laws when he was entered into the Triwizard Tournament and his magical guardian didn't object to his entrance."

"If he is an adult, they can't use his past abuse or even try to say he wasn't raised in how to handle his vaults?" Lucius asked.

"They could try, but if you do what I think you are going to do, it would work." Ironclaw answered him. 

"I was thinking of it." Lucius stated. He leaned back in his chair. "You just confirmed it would work."

"What?" Harry asked. 

"We know from the audits and review of your accounts that Dumbledore was stealing from you. The accounting shows that as soon as you found out about it, you did something about it. You handled it responsibly. You got the money and items back, charged interest and while you didn't press charges because of the War, you took care of your accounts. You set up a new account manager and added protection to your vaults." Lucius explained.

Severus looked at his hand. "Can our bonding help?"

"I don't want them to know about it. If they find out, they might try and put you back in Azkaban until Harry shows himself." Lucius told Severus, it was one of their biggest concerns, making sure Severus didn't get sent to Azkaban. 

"They actually would have a harder time if Mr. Snape took up his Lordship."

"I didn't think I could. My mother was disowned." Severus commented, he looked at Harry and then to Lucius. "Would Harry's help too?"

"Yes, it would give you more control, especially if you assigned the voting proxies to Lord Malfoy. Now, I know in your bonding contract, Harry is listed as the dominant in the relationship, which will also help as if shows Harry is in control and he is handling his business. He isn't neglecting an area in his life." Ironclaw paused "in regards to your mother, yes she was disowned but your grandfather never disowned you. He disowned your mother after she had you, therefore, you stayed in the family."

Lucius grinned. "Get the rings. It's time to put the full weight of the Malfoy, Prince, Potter, and Black name to use."

_______________________________________________________________________

The next day Lucius entered the Ministry with Kitten trailing behind him. "Lord Malfoy, can you put a leash on your pet."

"No, but if want to try, please feel free." Lucius informed one of the Ministry workers as he kept walking towards the Wizengamot. Lucius sat down with Kitten laying at his feet. "I do hope you aren't going to sleep through this?"

Kitten tilted his head up and gave him a look that asked if that was a serious question, he rolled his eyes and put his head back down. 

They watched the Wizengamot fill with wizards and witches all taking their seats. Lucius listened to the roll and made a mental count of those who were present that would vote for the guardianship of Harry. He couldn't wait to pull the rug out from under them. 

"Old business?" Kingsley opened the floor. After about thirty minutes of rehashing old business, Kingsley asked "new business."

Lucius rose. "I believe you will find a change of Chief Warlock." He sat down, he watched Percy Weasley start rifling through the paperwork he brought in. 

Percy read what he found and glanced at Lucius and handed the paperwork to Minister Shacklebolt. "I see. Our new Chief Warlock Lucius Malfoy."

Lucius almost let a grin break out on his face as chaos reign until Kingsley slammed down his gavel, repeatedly calling for order. When everything was calm, the former Chief spoke. "I want to know how this happened."

Kingsley sighed, "Lord Malfoy has the proxy votes of Lord Potter-Black and Lord Prince, added to the votes of the Whigs, giving him the majority." There were several small conversations that broke out, Kingsley glared at Lucius. 

"I demand a recount." A voice rose.

"It has been done and Lady Magic has accepted the change." Kingsley pointed to the seat changes. "Next order of business on the agenda is the guardianship of Harry Potter. Numerous concerns have been raised about the lack of Mr. Potter appearing since the defeat of Voldemort."

"It's Lord Potter-Black and I am wondering why this is an issue? We thought he was adult enough to enter the Triwizard Tournament meant for seventeen-year-old students when he was fourteen, to end a War, to kill the darkest of Dark Lords, we laid this burden on him from the time he was fifteen months old. Why is this concern now being raised?" Lucius asked.

"He is in great danger. He must be protected." Lord Doge spoke.

"He killed the most powerful wizard besides Dumbledore, no one has seen him and you want to protect him. I would say he is doing a very good job of protecting himself." Lucius replied.

"It only takes one spell." Lord Podemore answered.

"True, and making him a target by forcing him out and into the public eye will make him a bigger target." Lucius answered smoothly.

"His personal background shows he doesn't know a thing about how to handle his affairs." Lady Andrews replied.

"Really, what proof is there to show that?" Lucius asked. Kitten sat up and laid his head on Lucius' leg. Lucius began to pet him.

No one responded for a few minutes until Doge got brave. "We all know he was abused and hasn't been handling his affairs."

"Rumors doesn't equal knowledge or proof." Lucius calmly replied. 

"Lord Malfoy, you have control over his proxies, it must mean that he isn't responsible enough to handle his affairs." Lady Prewett stated. 

Lucius wanted to give the old hag a kiss, she just walked into his trap. "I would say it proves the exact opposite. It shows that he is knowledgeable enough to realize he doesn't have the experience that is needed for him to take his own seats as of yet. It shows he is willing to learn what needs to be done, as proven by his own past actions, and while he is learning, he is allowing his voice to still be heard." Lucius glanced around discreetly and saw a few of the votes changed to his favor. He did a mental count and knew if they voted now, he would win.

"You expect us to believe that Harry has everything under control? He hasn't shown himself in public since the battle."

"I don't believe anyone has ever had everything under control. If you are referring to his vaults, you will find he has an account manager. If you are referring to his education, you will find he has taken his NEWTs and done very well on them. If you are referring to what he is doing in the future, well that certainly isn't up for you to decide. He has fulfilled his duties to the wizarding world. He killed Voldemort, he has claimed his Lordships, he has made sure his voice is being heard in our governing body, he deserves some peace." Lucius informed them and saw a few more joined his ranks.

"I make a motion to dismiss this item." Lady Longbottom voiced.

"Second the motion." Madam Bones raised her wand.

"Motion carried." Percy declared. 

Lucius smirked at Kingsley as Kitten laid back down and closed his eyes. "Lazy cat." He muttered.


	3. Here Kitty Kitty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> about 9 months give or take after Voldemort's death

Severus was trying not to run, but he was afraid. He couldn't find Kitten at all. He made it to Lucius' class and opened the door, his panic rose, as he didn't see Kitten lying next to Lucius' desk. All the students were looking at him. "Professor Malfoy have you seen Kitten?" He tried to ask calmly.

"He was with you last time I saw him." Lucius walked towards Severus and began to take note of his appearance and demeanor. "Class dismissed." Neither said a word as the students filed out. "What happened?"

"I am not sure, I just woke up and he was gone." Severus told him. "I don't know what happened."

"Woke up? I thought you had a class this morning." Lucius paused "do you think someone drugged you?"

"No, I think I was hit with a spell. I think he was drugged." Severus revealed a dish of meat, he had hidden in one hand. "This was his breakfast. I found it on the floor next to my desk."

"We need to go and talk to Minerva." They turned and started towards the Headmistresses' tower. "Tartan." Lucius snarled at the gargoyle and they headed up the stairs.

"Minerva, we can't find Kitten." Severus rushed his words out. "I found some drugged meat by my desk."

"I am aware of the issue." She pointed out her window. "It appears that some Aurors were in the Forbidden Forest and saw three former students carrying a sleeping lion. Well. I should say more accurately, lugging a sleeping lion on some type of wheeled platform. Kitten woke up during this time period. If you look out the window, you can see he is still sitting on them, the Aurors are trying to get him to move." She paused "I came up here to write you a note."

Severus and Lucius exchanged a glance with her, they knew she could have sent a Patronus to them instead of writing a letter. "How long has he been awake?"

"Thirty minutes give or take. He ran the three of them around, the Aurors were also chasing the kidnappers. He caught one and kept his paw on him for awhile until one of the Aurors took charge. He caught the other two, dragging them over to the original Auror, one at a time. When he had all three together he knocked over the Auror, using his tail and front paws tripped the three kidnappers and proceeded to lay across them, trapping them under him. I believe he is napping again." 

"What are the Aurors saying?"

"Not much, they have been trying to get Kitten off of kidnappers. They did say they were going to be arrested for kidnapping a lion. There is a black market movement that had someone wanting to buy Kitten for a muggle zoo. I'm going to press for breaking and entering into Hogwarts and attacking a Professor." Minerva glanced again out the window. "You would think after all this time, they wouldn't even bother trying a spell on him." She tutted seeing an Auror being yelled at for trying to cast a stunner on Kitten. 

"A stunner to get a lion off some former students. What have the Aurors come to?" Severus smirked.

"Let's go collect our wayward lion, before he gets bored and really does fall asleep on them." Lucius grinned. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

"Professors, we are so glad to see you, do you think you can get Kitten to let the criminals up?" Auror Thompson asked.

"I tried catnip." He pointed to a stuffed catnip toy. 

"He won't move." Auror Dawlish remarked. "The trainee over there tried a stunner, Kitten is now being stubborn because of the spell." He got a roar for that remark.

Lucius and Severus were kneeling down next to the lion. "We are getting more protective gear for you." Lucius began to pet Kitten. "How did they drug the meat?" 

"House-elf by the name of Tix. He is owned by one of the kidnappers. We will be checking into that some more." Dawlish informed them. "Can you get him to get up?"

Kitten yawned and gave a small roar but stood up, he put his face into the bigger of the kidnappers and roared loudly. The kidnapper, who Severus thought was one of McKinney siblings gagged. "Don't you brush his teeth?"

"Daily, but drugged meat leaves bad breath and a headache behind, Mr. McKinney." Severus remarked.

"Well, at least finally the Ministry sneaking Aurors here paid off. Who are they?" Lucius asked.

"Three former Ravenclaws. The McKinney siblings and their cousin Paul." Auror Dawlish informed them. Ignoring the comment about the Ministry. Many of the Aurors didn't want to keep coming here. They didn't like being chased by Kitten, they didn't like sneaking here looking for someone who they believed should be left alone. "They were hoping for some quick Galleons."

Kitten moved to Severus and pawed his pants. "I have a headache potion for you." Severus conjured a bowl and poured the potion into it. "Drink it all, then we will take you back to our quarters and you can sleep it off."

"Do you need us for anything else?" Lucius asked.

"No, we will let you know when the trial is, I don't believe you will need to bring Kitten with you."

They heard the trainee asked, "who names a lion that big, Kitten?" 

"They do and be thankful you are seeing him now, instead of him on catnip, chasing us." Auror Thompson informed him. "I think this is the first time I have actually ran with him, not from him."

"Minerva, we are going to get him back into our quarters, I don't want to try and move a sleeping lion." 

_____________________________________________________________

Back in their quarters with wards in place, Kitten returned to his human self. "I need a pain potion too, I think they dropped me a few times." Harry told Severus as he headed to their bedroom.

Severus pulled out a pain potion. "I will make sure your food is not tampered with from now on. I honestly didn't think anyone would try and kidnap a lion."

"At least the Aurors proved useful for a change instead of just my regular daily exercise." Harry grinned at them as he slid into bed.


	4. Catnip?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reason why Kitten goes to the classes with Severus / Lucius

Severus entered his quarters, he looked around and groaned, the place was a mess. As he is pulling out his wand he got tackled and found a furry face looming over. "Get off of me you big furball." Severus groaned as he felt Kitten lick his face. "Kitten, off."

Kitten got off and started bouncing around him. Severus looked and realized he was covered in catnip but before he could cast a spell to clean up the catnip his arm is grabbed in the jaws of a very energetic lion and he was being tugged towards the door. "No, I am not letting you out of here. Just look at this mess you made. Wait, where did you get the catnip from?"

Before he could get an answer the door to their quarters opened and Lucius walked in and before Severus could say anything Kitten dashed out the door. "Stop him." Severus tried to get out.

"What in Merlin's name happened here?" Lucius asked looking around, seeing catnip all over the place with overturned furniture.

"I am not sure, but he is high on catnip. I want to know where he got it from. I had it locked in my classroom potion private stocks."

"I am not sure, Weasley was here earlier." Lucius said. "Let's go and find him before he passes out from an overdose."

"I am going to kill Weasley." Severus said as they left their quarters and followed the trail of catnip flakes. "It looks like he is headed outside."

"He is." Minerva said as she came from the other side of the hall. "He almost knocked me and Filius over."

"Weasley gave him catnip. Our living area is covered in it." Lucius explained. 

"So is he." She replied.

The three of them head outside and saw Kitten rolling in the snow, getting thoroughly soaked. "Great, wet lion smell." Severus muttered. "Weasley is going to pay for this." He promised.

"He is going to crash soon." Minerva said. "He was swaying a bit when I saw him."

"How are we going to get him back inside?" Lucius asked.

"Bribery." Severus retorted. "I will use my Patronus Charm and have him chase the doe into our quarters. It's going to take a few of them." Severus paused, pulled his wand out. "Expecto Patronum."

Sixteen castings later, Kitten was finally back in their living quarters, Severus sat down after Lucius righted the couch, exhausted. 

"He should pass out soon." Lucius said as he exited the bathroom with some towels. They all groaned as Kitten began to shake the excess wetness from his fur, just like a dog, sending snow, catnip flakes, and fur flying all over the place. They cast a drying charm on their clothes. "The smell better come out." He tried to corner the lion to dry him but was failing miserably. 

"Tea?" Minerva asked, trying not to laugh. "I hope wet lion smell comes out of your furniture, too."

"Please." Severus replied. "Weasley better hope it does. He is cleaning this up and giving him a bath." As Minerva summoned an elf and ordered tea for them.

"I don't think Kitten will like the idea of Ron giving him a bath." Minerva smirked. She knew Kitten won't and would refuse to even think of it. She also knew Kitten would win any battle that Severus, Lucius, or Ron would try to give the lion to get into the bathroom if Ron tried it.

The floo roared to life and Ron Weasley stepped out. He looked around. "Oh no." Lucius was still trying to corner the wet lion. Severus was glaring at him and Minerva was trying not to laugh. He saw the catnip all over the place, along with the overturned furniture.

"Yes, oh no." Severus sneered. "He got into the catnip you left behind." He pinched the bridge of his nose. He was never leaving the lion alone their quarters again.

"I put it on the desk. I didn't think he would get it." Ron walked over to help Lucius try and corner the soaking wet lion. "He got out?"

"Yes, rolled around in the snow." Lucius answered. "Try staying on the left, I will stay on the right and work him into the far corner."

"He is taller than the desk. He can lay his head down on the desktop, what made you think he wouldn't have?" Severus asked. "Just look at him, he is almost half a ton and bigger than the couch."

"I got a call and tossed it on the desk. I was going to leave a note and explain that Neville has some freshly dried from his greenhouse." Ron said as he began to get up off of the floor after Kitten knocked him over in his pouncing to escape their attempts at drying him.

"Fresh?" Lucius groaned. "He is going to be high for a while." Kitten kept dodging them and looked like he was thinking of ways to chase them. "I thought he would be passed out by now."

"How much?" Severus asked he eyed the lion. "He is still glassy-eyed."

Ron looked at them and they can tell he didn't want to answer the question. "A few kilos. It was just finished this morning. We wanted you to lace some of the meat and measure the difference it had. Neville found a new formula for some fertilizer and wanted to see if it made a difference in the potency of plants too." 

Severus glared. "I can safely say the answer is yes. You are cleaning this mess up, and replacing anything that was damaged."

Lucius joined Severus on the couch. "Even if we cornered him, we will just end up with a wet lion on us as he knocks us over again."

"He better not get sick." Severus snapped. "I don't even want to think of him being sick."

"I am sorry. I really didn't think Kitten would get into it. Harry is going to kill me for this." Ron said sitting down on the hearth. "He told me no catnip."

"You are lucky I am not stringing you up. I am just too tired right now." Severus informed him.

"Do you think we should take him up the ROR and let him run it out?" Minerva asked.

"No, because he is going to crash and crash hard." Severus said. "It won't be much longer. He swayed a bit again."

"I am really sorry." Ron told them. "I honestly didn't think he would get into it. Neville and Luna are going to kill me."

Severus didn't say anything as they heard a thud and saw Kitten passed out in the middle of the room. "Well, at least nothing is shredded." Lucius said. "Last time we had to buy a new chair."

"That one wasn't my fault. I didn't know he would react to catnip like that." Ron said.

"Ron, how about you promise to stay away from the catnip unless Severus or Lucius gives it to you?" Minerva said trying not to smirk. 

Lucius tossed Ron the towels. "Dry him."

Ron took the towels and went over to Kitten and began to dry the lion. "He stinks, it's worse than wet dog."

"Just be grateful we aren't going to make you give him a bath." Lucius retorted. "Now, where are we having this Sunday's dinner?"

"I think Harry and Draco worked it out to be at Malfoy Manor this week and the next two weeks at our place. Hermione said something about some papers she had to have done and wouldn't have time for anything else." Ron answered. "Maybe at the end of the month, we can do it here?"

"If we get rid of the smell, I wouldn't mind, it will give me time to arrange a menu." Severus said. "I hope the elves can get it out of the furniture."

"I am honestly sorry." Ron told them again.

"Apology accepted, but no more catnip for you. I am not sure who is worse, Kitten or you." Severus told him.

"Where is Harry?" Ron asked.

"Working." Lucius said. It was the standard reply. Harry, Lucius, Severus, and Minerva informed everyone that Harry took a job working has potion supplier and had to travel a lot to get some of the ingredients, of course, that was only their friends, if anyone else asked, they had no idea where Harry Potter was.

"Well, I better get back myself. I only wanted to stop by for lunch to let you know about the catnip." Ron told them. "Tell Harry I will talk to him later." 

"We will." Lucius responded. Even before the war had ended, Lucius, Draco, and Narcissa had been accepted into what they now considered their friends. Narcissa was killed during the war, shortly after Dumbledore's death, but not before Voldemort's. It was Severus, Harry, Minerva, Luna, Neville, the Weasley family with Hermione, who helped Draco and Lucius recover from her death. 

Narcissa's death brought Draco and Hermione closer, they were married almost two years now. Luna, Neville, and Ron were bonded shortly after that. Harry, Severus, and Lucius were the last ones to be bonded on the second year anniversary of Dumbledore's death. They were bonded in America so that the British Ministry had no idea. The goblins hid the certificate filing in their daily reports.

Once Ron was gone Severus looked at the passed out lion. "He is going to have a hangover when he finally wakes up."

Minerva looked at the huge lion sleeping peacefully. "Will a hangover or headache potion work?"

"Not really sure, depends on how strong Neville's catnip was." Severus answered. 

____________________________________________________________

Hours later:

Kitten growled and slowly opened his eyes. He lifted his head and laid it back down. Severus peered over his desk. "It's safe to transform."

Harry didn't want to move but returned to his human form. "What happened?"

"Ron left a new and improved strain of catnip on the desktop. You got into it, a few kilos worth." Severus told him and handed him a hangover potion. "If that doesn't work I have a headache one too."

Harry drank the potion, closed his eyes and without opening them. "I stink."

"Yes, you got out and rolled in the snow, wet lion smell was all over the place." Lucius told him coming in from the kitchen. "The elves were able to get the smell out. I will draw you a bath if you wish."

"Please. Did I destroy anything?"

"Nothing that wasn't replaceable, it was mostly some quills and parchment that was on the desk. Some students are going to be grateful as some of their essays were destroyed before I could read them." Severus held out his hand and when Harry took it, he pulled him up and into his arms, giving him a hug. "Come on, let's get you cleaned." 


	5. That is Kitten?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost a year after the Dark Lord's death

Severus and Lucius were sitting at the Head Table with Kitten laying down between them. Minerva was sitting in the center seat as the Headmistress. They were just finishing the Leaving Feast when a small group of Aurors arrived with Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt. "I hope he isn't here for what I think he is here for." Lucius quietly told Severus.

"It's been almost a year, they are going to want Harry for the year anniversary. I have no idea how they are expecting that to happen as he is legally an adult." Severus replied. 

"Minister, how can I help you?" Minerva asked. "As you can see we are almost done with the Leaving Feast."

"I am aware, I came to speak to the students." Kingsley answered.

"Regarding?" Minerva asked. 

Ignoring Minerva's question, Kingsley faced the students. "I am Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt. I am here on behalf of the Ministry of Magic. We are looking for Harry Potter, I am sure the older students can provide a description to the first years of what Harry looks like. If you see Harry, we need you to contract the Auror Department and let them know."

"Why? Harry hasn't done anything wrong has he?" A voice called out. Severus recognized it as Astoria Greengrass, one of his former Snakes younger sister. She was in Ravenclaw.

"No, we are looking for him to help Harry." Kingsley answered.

"Help him? How?" Another voice asked. Severus wasn't sure who asked it, but it sounded like it came from the Hufflepuff table.

Lucius leaned over to Severus. "What is the man trying to pull?"

"If Harry desires to inform you what he needs help with, that is up to him. It's not up to me to provide that information." Kingsley replied.

"This is going to be interesting. He is really following Dumbledore's plan. I wonder if he knew about the stealing?"

"I don't think so. He just knows about the plan Dumbledore had for the Ministry and Harry, as he is clearly following it, no matter how many kinks I toss at him." Lucius replied. 

"If there was something wrong with Harry, we would know it. What is really going on?" Dennis Creevey stated in true Gryffindor fashion. 

Kingsley didn't reply right away. Minerva spoke up. "I would like to know what is going on myself. Harry isn't here and if he was in trouble he would let us know. He knows he is always welcomed at Hogwarts." 

"Harry isn't in trouble. The first year anniversary is soon approaching and we need Harry." Kingsley answered.

"You need him to be your poster boy." A sixth year Slytherin student by the name of Victor Goyle stated. His older brother had been in Harry's year. 

The hall erupted with jeers directed at the Minister. "It looks like the school agrees with Mr. Goyle." Lucius commented. 

"The Minister is barking mad." Poppy commented. "Why does he think we would tell him where Harry was? Even if we knew. We know what they want. They want a poster boy to haul out when they want to pass something questionable, they want someone to hold up as a way of saying don't mess with us or we will send Harry Potter after you." She couldn't keep her bitterness out of her voice. "They drove him into hiding." Anyone who heard her agreed with her statement.

Kitten sat up and saw Kingsley and he roared, shaking his mane as he looked at the man. Kingsley turned around, saw the lion and decided to start running. Kitten couldn't resist a moving target and started chasing the man. The Aurors started quietly saying, "don't run and he won't chase you."

"Kill the lion." Kingsley screamed over his shoulder at them. He started running around the different house tables, causing the students to start laughing at him. 

"I am not killing a lion because he is running. Kitten won't hurt him, he didn't hurt us when we were trying to hurt him." John Dawlish told another Auror, earning a lot of students silent praise.

"I am not doing it, especially in front of the students." Marshall stated. They were watching Kingsley run around the Great Hall, the students are laughing until someone finally stunned the Minister. Kitten licked the stunned man's bald head and sat on him.

"Mr. Creevey, do tell me you got photos of that?" Severus asked.

"I did, Professor Snape. I can have them developed by tomorrow." Dennis replied. "Colin would have loved to see them." He missed his brother dearly but knew Colin wouldn't want him to be unhappy and he would want him to continue taking pictures just like he had when he was alive.

"I want a complete set for me and Professor Malfoy, please. I am sure your brother would have too." Severus told the boy. They had worked hard on making sure the siblings of anyone who died in the Battle of Hogwarts knew their fallen brothers and sisters weren't going to be forgotten despite the Ministry only focusing on Harry Potter. 

Severus, Lucius, and Harry had spoken numerous times about how the Ministry would have used Harry. They would never mention the others if Harry was always in the spotlight. They were forced to build a monument for the fallen students. They were forced to give them some type of recognizance, including some of the Order of Merlin, Third Class. They were holding back awarding Severus' because they wanted to verify the memories Harry had left with Minerva for her to provide to the Ministry. While the memories kept him out of Azkaban, they were using his medal as a way to draw Harry out. Originally they were refusing to award anyone until they spoke to Harry. Lucius got the deceased students their medals when he made an appeal in Wizengamot. 

They heard a few students placing orders for the photos. "Do you wish to take him up to the Infirmary?" Poppy asked as the Aurors were trying, mind you they weren't trying very hard, to get Kitten off of the Minister. The question brought Severus thoughts back to the present.

"Yes, please. Lucius, Severus can one of you please get your lion off of the Minister?" John Dawlish asked, causing several students to laugh.

"I will, John. I need to take him out for a run anyways." Severus stood up and walked to Kitten. Several of the Aurors were now friends with Kitten, Severus, and Lucius, mostly due to Kitten chasing them numerous times until they realized Kitten viewed it as a game and if you didn't run, he wouldn't chase. The Aurors, however, didn't pass that information along to anyone new to the detail of watching for Harry Potter at Hogwarts. "Come on Furball, let's go into the Forbidden Forest, I need to get some ingredients." Kitten looked down at the Minister and back to Severus. "Fine, go ahead."

Kitten stood up and lowered his head, he opened his mouth and gently grabbed some of the Minister's robes and pulled up, causing the robe to rip. It was very loud as everyone was watching to see what Kitten planned on doing. Everyone saw various pieces of the material go flying as Kitten shook his head, tossing the cloth into the air. "I do hope that wasn't expensive." Lucius said. 

Severus looked at the robe and to Kitten. "He shouldn't have run. It's really his own fault, he should know by now how Kitten is. See you in a few hours." Severus and Kitten head out of the Great Hall. Severus paused by the door, pulled out his wand and said "Finite Incantatem, Aguamenti." They heard everyone laugh as the water landed on the Minister, making the man sputter. 

Lucius looked at Minerva and Poppy. "I do hope he doesn't wonder why the Minister doesn't like him."

"I think he does it because he knows the Minister doesn't like him." Minerva responded.

"He just doesn't care that the Minister doesn't like him." Poppy added.

"Very true." Lucius retorted. "Well I am going to make sure the first years are settled and everyone is packed for tomorrow." Lucius was now co-head of Slytherin house since Severus was the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts. Minerva asked Lucius to be the co-head, because as she put it. "I did the head of house and deputy position. It's too much work. I was always behind on the deputy work alone. I never got a chance to know my Lions very well and my Lions paid a very dear price for that." 

________________________________________________________

Harry was sitting on the bed, reading as Severus and Lucius were in their living quarters when they heard pounding on their door. Severus came into the bedroom. "Aurors." Harry transformed back into Kitten and stayed on the bed as Severus started to hide anything that might be Harry's in a hidden area of the room.

"John, to what do we owe this late hour visit?" Lucius asked.

"It's just me. I am not here on official business either." John Dawlish said.

"Come in, you want some tea?" Lucius asked.

"Please, it's been a long night." He replied and followed Lucius into the main area. He took a sit on the couch and waited until tea was served to speak. "Listen, I am not saying this for a fact, but if you know where Harry is, tell him to stay hidden."

"I am not saying we know where he is, but can you provide us with some details?" Severus asked.

"Some, I don't know much, but I figure Lucius can get more information. I heard Kingsley chatting with Mad-Eye, they are really looking hard for Harry. Mad-Eye has been searching the muggle cities looking for him. The thing that bothered me was they were mentioning following that idiot Dumbledore's plans. I know you were on the side of the Light, but I also know you didn't believe in the old man. The Dark Idiot really gave us no choice."

Severus and Lucius tilted their heads in agreement. "Did they say anything about this plan?"

"Not too much, most of what it seemed to be about was using Harry to get people to go on this crusade against anyone and anything dark. They have been trying to stop Hermione Malfoy from getting equal rights for anything they don't like."

Lucius thought about what Hermione had brought up in Wizengamot. "She is working on getting werewolves better care and getting them jobs." John doesn't say anything. "Of course, since Remus is dead, they can say all werewolves are dark, and no one can use Remus as an example because the man is dead. If they used him now, they would only say, he followed Dumbledore because he viewed Dumbledore as his Alpha."

"Dumbledore was his Alpha. After he saved him from being killed in our fifth year." Severus stated. "What else have you heard?"

"They want Potter, they have some house set up for him to live in. It's wards based on his magical signature." John answered.

Lucius laughed. "That isn't his magical signature. The Dark Lord had it switched out because they had brother wands and he was worried about that connection they had. He was so paranoid that the Ministry might be able to use Harry's signature to find him. He had his own magical signature removed from the Ministry years before that."

Severus smirked as John laughed. "Do you know how many hours they spent warding that house. Rookwood told me about it. He wanted me to warn you."

"Rookwood? Really?" Severus asked.

"Yes, he said you know where Harry is and for me to warn you. He wanted to come himself but he was afraid someone else would see him here and mention it. He has no reason to be here. I can say I was doing a surprise inspection if they ask." 

"What does the Auror Department think of the stakeout in the Forbidden Forest?" Lucius asked.

"Most think it's annoying, while they don't mind the money for the easy work, they all feel it's a bore and they don't want to do it unless we get a new recruit or trainee. It's fun to see Kitten chase them. Some of the regular Aurors still don't know about him. We refer to him as Kitten but don't tell anyone he is a lion."

"He does like the daily exercise. As soon as we mention going out to him, he heads straight to the woods to see if anyone is there for him to chase." Severus told him.

"I know that he caught me a few times when Kingsley thought it would be a good idea to use a cloaking spell. Mad-Eye is thinking of trying an invisibility cloak. We already warned him that the spells don't work but he thinks the cloak will. He is trying to find someone to con into wearing it."

"If he believes it will work why doesn't he try?" Lucius asked.

"He pulls the retired card anytime he is asked to do a job he doesn't want to do. He doesn't want to be chased, licked, or sat on by Kitten. Give Kitten some catnip for me for ripping Kingsley's robes. If I had known what a putz he would have turned into I would have urged no one to vote for him but he was better than Fudge." John put down his tea. "I need to head home, it's been a long day, I had a double and I need to be in early tomorrow. It appears our new head of the department thinks it's a great idea to let us only get about 8 hours of sleep after working for almost 14 hours."

"When do you get a day off?" Severus asked.

"This was my day off. We got pulled for the special assignment of Harry Hunting. They didn't let anyone know until they called us all in. They didn't call in any of the trainees or recruits."

"That explains why Ron and Draco didn't know." Lucius stated.

"They wouldn't tell them until they arrived anyways. Kingsley believes anyone in Hogwarts would tell Harry, and they know Ron and Draco would too." John stood up. "One more thing, Rookwood is working on creating a collar for Kitten for some reason. He said he is going to add some of the old runes he found for protection into the collar."

"Tell him we say thank you." Severus responded after exchanging a look with Lucius.

"I will. Good night."

"Thanks John for all your help." Lucius told the man as he walked him to the door.

Harry came out of the bedroom after making sure John was gone. "That was interesting." He told them.

"It was. I am wondering what Augustus knows." Severus said.

"Wait, Augustus?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Augustus Rookwood." 

Harry started laughing. "Is he about Severus' height, brown hair, going grey, with a beard, brown with grey in it. Brown eyes with pale skin?"

"That sounds like him." Lucius answered. Severus and Lucius were confused, how would Harry know Rookwood.

"He is the one who helped me become an animagi. He found me beaten by my Uncle. He recognized who I was, it was the summer of my fifth year, but he took me home, healed me up, and helped me. He taught me how to knife fight, runes, some of the more borderline dark spells but most of all he showed me the truth, about Dumbledore, about Tom, and about my relatives."

"He was the one that helped you find the Horcruxes. Hermione mentioned that you would go off at times and come back with new information or another Horcrux." Severus said.

"Yes." Harry grinned. "He won't tell anyone either. He took a Vow, of his own choosing. He said it was to protect him from Tom. As a Vow, Tom wouldn't see it. He was the one who also taught me Legilimency and Occlumency."

Severus flinched. "You know I didn't want to teach you that way, but Dumbledore wanted you to learn that way, he said we had no time to teach you correctly and we had to teach you to protect yourself against the kind of attacks the Dark Lord would do."

Harry smiled at Severus and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "I know and trust me, I do understand. Severus, I trust you, I love you. I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"I know, but it's nice to hear." Severus returned.

"How about an early night?" Lucius asked.

"I am up for it." Harry pulled his husbands into the bedroom.


	6. Are We Having Fun Yet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day before the first anniversary of Voldemort's Death.

Harry woke up to Severus and Lucius talking. He sat up. "What is going on?" Harry asked.

"You won't believe us if we told you." Severus sighed as he sat down on the bed. Lucius held up a piece of parchment. "Minerva received that this morning."

Harry took the parchment and read it. "I will kill them." He got up and paced. He reread the letter:

Minerva, warn them that the Ministry is having the Aurors and others looking for Harry in every port, apparition spot, and magical alley they can.

"Harry, they won't find you." Lucius said.

"That isn't an issue, I know they won't, it's this whole manhunt thing. What the hell did old goat tell that fool? Why is it so important to keep control over me? What was their plan?" Harry asked, his pacing getting more and more agitated as he was speaking.

"Harry, calm down." Severus said. He looked at Lucius, who nodded his agreement. 

"Don't even think of it, Severus." Harry told him. "Lucius, has Shacklebolt been putting anything in front of Wizengamot?"

"He has tried, but nothing has worked. He can't use your seats without them being assigned to him. Since I have the proxy, he has been pushing for a lot of little bills to get in now. He really needs for you to be seen, getting the people behind him. Tomorrow is the anniversary, he is going to go all out and try to find you." Lucius answered.

Harry grinned. "How about we have Harry sightings? The three of us stay in Diagon Alley and have our friends and family play me?"

Severus grinned. "I have the potions."

"I will make the fire calls, you start getting the potions ready." Lucius said.

Thirty minutes later:

Soon all of the Weasleys, Draco, Hermione, Neville, and Luna were in their quarters. "Minerva is going to allow all of you to apparate out of our quarters to different spots. So pick a spot, if you know how to get there great if you don't switch with someone." Severus told them. "Harry is already hiding." Kitten was sitting watching them. 

"He is actually hiding in America, we figure they won't be looking for him there if we have all these Harry sightings." Lucius added.

"I will leave the wards down in here, Lucius has emergency port-keys for everyone, they will go through any charms they put down. They were freshly made, so they will work." Minerva remembered how Dumbledore never updated the Order members port-keys and some didn't work at times.

"There is enough for all of you to stay as Harry for four hours. Drink every forty-five minutes, do not wait until it's almost an hour, give yourselves the extra fifteen minutes." Severus handed out the potions.

"Do we need to do anything?" Draco asked.

"No, if you are in an alley go shopping. If you are in a remote place, look like you are looking for potion ingredients. If you find some, gather it, make them believe you." Severus said. "I can provide a list if you need one."

"I might need a list." Ron said. "Unless someone wants to switch with me."

"I will Ron." Hermione stated. They switched locations. "I can find those ingredients for you, Severus."

"We will head to Diagon Alley, don't take the potion for another thirty minutes, give us time to get into Diagon Alley. " Lucius said. 

"I will stay here at Hogwarts." Minerva stated. "I am sure they will be looking in their quarters when they see Harry sightings, even though Severus and Lucius will be in Diagon Alley."

"See everyone back here in about five hours." Severus said as they headed towards the door. 

SEVERUS AND LUCIUS WITH KITTEN:

Severus and Lucius apparated to Diagon Alley. "I need to get some ingredients, do you want me to meet you at the bookstore?" 

"Yes, I don't believe Irving Slugs would enjoy having Kitten in his store again." Lucius answered. "I wanted to get the newest defense book."

Severus grinned as he saw several Aurors glance at Lucius and Kitten than send a message to the Ministry. They would be heading to their quarters as soon as possible again. He hoped they didn't make much of a mess if they managed to finally enter their quarters. Severus started to walk away. He knew Kitten would have fun in the bookstore. The staff inside always had some treats for him.

He knew they would meet again at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. They would be spending most of the day shopping and wouldn't be heading back until dinner time. He was going to enjoy hearing about the Aurors running around all day.

DRACO:

Draco landed outside of Dublin, in their magical shopping area. He started to head towards the Potion Store, he wasn't sure of the name but he didn't think he would really make it there before the Aurors would arrive. He noticed when one of the Irish Division of the Aurors left to report his arrival. He was going to enjoy doing this.

Draco heard the sounds of numerous apparitions, he hid his grin as he ducked into a store and hid behind the door. He waited for a few minutes and heard them run past the store. He exited the store and head in the opposite way. He just kept walking and listening. He knew when they turned to start heading in his direction. He ducked into the bookstore and went out the back door. He leaned against the wall and waited. He didn't hear anything, so he stayed still. He knew they would go into the bookstore and when they did, he would move around to the front of the store. 

He was in front of the tea shop and entered the shop and sat down and ordered some tea. He watched the Aurors go up and down the road, trying to find him. He stayed in the shop and finished his tea, paid the bill. He waited until they made another sweep by him and he exited the stop and headed in the other direction. 

He entered the potion shop and started to shop. He picked up things he knew Severus would need. He added a few things he knew that Severus couldn't get in Scotland or England. He heard them asking people if they had seen him and no one answered him. He knew they wouldn't. No one wanted to turn in Harry Potter.

Draco was enjoying the game of cat and mouse he was playing, he finished his shopping and even got some of his Yule gifts done, he decided it was time to apparated back to Hogwarts. He sat down and waited for the others to arrive. He summoned Dobby for some tea.

LUNA:

Luna landed on Privet Dr., she made her way past number four, turned and headed back. She walked up to the door and rang the bell. When the door opened she grinned. "Hello Aunt Petunia, I thought I would stop by and see if we could have a cup of tea."

When the woman screamed about freaks, Luna walked away. She knew Harry would enjoy that memory. She headed for the park and knew his Aunt would be screaming her head off to the Auror Department as soon as she was able too. Luna sat on the swing and waited. When she saw the Aurors arrive, she jumped off of the swing and apparate to where Grimmauld Place was in London.

She sat down in one of the outdoor cafes and ordered a tea, with some cucumber sandwiches. She watched the muggles walk by as she enjoyed herself. She knew the Aurors wouldn't apparate here, so she was watching the crowds for the brown trench coats the Aurors usually wore. She got up and ordered three cups of tea to go. When she saw the Aurors, she gave the waitress some muggle money to deliver the tea to them. She disappeared out the back door as the waitress left to deliver the tea.

She landed in Hogsmeade and went into Honeydukes, getting some of their chocolate, and she began to wander around the streets, she listened closely for the sounds of an apparition. When she was looking into one of the windows she saw the Aurors come out of the Hog's Head and grinned as she apparated out. She headed back to Hogwarts. She grinned as Draco said, "tea is ready."

RON:

Ron landed by the sea. He grinned. He remembered the times Hermione and Harry had spent running from Death Eaters and finding this beach. They had spent a few days here. He began to walk down the beach, looking for anything that he could find for Neville or Luna. He rolled up his trouser legs and waded into the water. He bottled some of the water, he wasn't sure if it was useful, but he was grateful he wasn't required to look for potion ingredients. He could handle the beach and was grateful to Hermione for switching. She knew he knew where the beach was. Next on his list when the Aurors arrived would be some different spots around lochs in Scotland they had stayed at. 

He picked up some shells and when he heard the sounds of an apparition, he turned and grinned and walked out of the water, he dodged a stunner and apparated out. He landed close by a rock on the farthest northern loch. He wondered how long before the Aurors would arrive. He bottled some of the water, labeling it. He picked up some of the different plants for Neville. He was beginning to wonder if the Aurors were going to make an appearance when he heard the sounds of an apparition. He didn't stick around and popped out. He landed in Hogwarts and grinned at Draco and Luna. He took a seat next to Luna, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

NEVILLE:

Neville held back a smirk as he landed outside the Ministry. He moved away from the phone booth and walked down the street. When no one was following him, he turned and headed in the other direction. He turned so many times a muggle Auror stopped him. "Are you alright sir?"

"I am fine, I am just waiting for a friend and find I am impatient in my waiting and am walking off some extra energy." Neville replied. "Is that a problem?"

"Oh, no sir, I was just making sure everything was fine." The muggle Auror answered.

"I won't be much longer, if they don't appear, I will be leaving." Neville answered. He noticed some Ministry workers had noticed him and was wondering if one of them would inform Shacklebolt or the Auror department.

"Very good sir, have a nice day." 

Neville watched the muggle Auror leave, he headed back to the Ministry and actually stood by the phone booth for a short time. He finally gave up and headed to Diagon Alley. Here he had even worse luck. No one seemed to notice who he was. He saw Severus, tip his head in the opposite direction, letting him know the Aurors were down in the indicated direction. He slowly walked the streets and as he saw Severus head into the Leaky Cauldron to meet Lucius and Kitten for dinner. He headed to the apparition spot and landed in Hogwarts. He took a cup of tea that Luna passed him and sat down. "They are in the Leaky Cauldron. I didn't see a single Auror, even when I was standing outside the Ministry."

They all laughed, and each told Neville what happened to them. 

FRED: 

Fred landed in Paris. He wasn't expecting any Aurors to appear here, but he knew it would get back to the British ones. He strolled up and down, looking into various shops. He began to find things for them to experiment with for their shop. He picked up various potion ingredients for them and Severus. He went into some of the bookstores looking for various potion books and some defense. He found some great Yule gifts, even though it was summer, he knew they would come in handy.

After spending numerous hours in Paris, he apparated back to Hogwarts. He smiled when Luna handed him some tea. He took a sip. "You need to tell Katie what brand this is."

"I am not sure, it's actually Lucius." Luna answered.

"Oh that is Adagio Golden Yunnan, from the Yunnan province of China." Draco answered. "He got Severus and Harry drinking it now."

"How long before everyone else is back?" Ron asked.

"About twenty minutes or so." Neville answered. 

GEORGE:

George landed in Madrid, he grinned and started walking around the magical district. He knew, like Fred, that no one would be looking for him here but an appearance by Harry in Madrid would confuse them. He had a list of things they needed for the store and their experiments. He entered various shops and was surprised by the vast amount of ingredients he found. He was in the bookstore when he saw the brown trench coats of the Aurors as they started walking towards him, he wasn't worried because he was inside the store. He paid for his book and waited for them to pass by and exited the store and headed towards the apparition spot. He grinned as he landed. "Well, I had some Aurors show up." He took a seat as Luna handed him his tea.

"In Madrid?" Ron asked.

"Yes, surprised me, but they didn't see me." George answered.

BILL:

Bill landed and as soon as he turned around, he dodged a stunner sent his way. He started running, casting spells over his shoulder as he did so. He was in Cardiff, Wales and wasn't expecting Aurors to be here already. He made it to the edge of the magical village and apparated out. 

He landed in a small mixed village of Betws-yn-Rhos. He wasn't sure if they would follow him here, but he saw some of the residents recognized him as Harry and he began to walk. He walked for about thirty minutes and apparated to the next village. He apparated every thirty minutes as Aurors weren't far behind him. He would pop out as he heard them land. After several hours of narrow escapes, he apparated back to Hogwarts. He was exhausted.

He looked at the few already seated and moaned. "They were already there when I landed, almost got me with a stunner, been one step ahead of them."

Luna poured him a cup of tea, which he gratefully took as he sat down. 

GINNY:

Ginny moved around the Forbidden Forest, she wasn't sure how long the hidden Aurors would take to find her. She stayed almost bumped into one.

"Watch it, whoever you are, I don't need to be bruised." John Dawlish said. "Tell Severus and Lucius their plan worked, the Ministry is going nuts." He paused "if you want to be seen, head over to the Shrieking Shack, but be careful, Mad-Eye is over there."

"I will let them know." Ginny said. "Should I head to somewhere else?"

"Yes, they are looking in some of the mixed towns, head to a few of them." John answered. 

Ginny headed off to the Shrieking Shack and dodged a body binding spell, she apparated out, she began to apparite to various small towns, only staying roughly twenty minutes. She first landed in Chwilog to Trawsfynydd from there to Templeton to Llanbedrog. She stayed slightly longer in Llanbedrog before going to Trefriw. 

Ginny was thinking she might circle back to the original villages but headed to Dwyran instead. After that, she went to Llanwrtyd Wells, Penysarn, New Hedges, and finally to Llanfechell. She shocked some Aurors when she landed Llanfechell, but she was able to apparate to Hogwarts before they could pull their wands. 

MOLLY:

Molly glanced around as she landed outside the Tower of London, her job was to hit all the different tourist attractions. She knew the Aurors wouldn't be able to use their wands around the muggles and it would give her time to make her escape. She began to walk the grounds. She kept close to the crowds but not in the crowds, she didn't want any Aurors to get close that way. She saw some them arriving and started to move away and when it was safe she apparated.

She landed in a quiet alley near the British Museum. She walked over to the stairs and sat down, and enjoyed watching the crowds of muggles. She would have to speak to Arthur about doing this again but as themselves. She sat quietly watching for about fifteen minutes and headed back to the quiet alley to apparate away.

She landed in another alley and headed for the National Gallery almost across from it. She did the same routine of sitting and waiting for the Aurors if they would actually arrive. She was getting thirsty and decided to get something to drink and saw a food vendor and decided to try some of the muggle food. She got a sandwich with a soda. She had no idea what a soda was but she was willing to give it a try. She watched another muggle open one and followed their example when she made it back to her seat. She opened the drink and took a sip. She enjoyed the taste and feeling it gave her. She was going to have to get some more of these. She finished her quick lunch and started back to the alley. 

She did the same thing when she visited the Victoria and Albert Museum and Somerset House. She was going to have to come back and visit these places with Arthur, she knew she was going to be bringing home those sodas. The kids would love them, she thought.

She headed back to Hogwarts, she landed and seeing everyone but Arthur and Hermione she grinned. "I had so much fun." She began to tell them about all the different things she saw and tasted.

ARTHUR:

Arthur was looking forward to his great muggle adventure. He landed at the muggle tourist area of Skellig Islands. He started his walk towards 6th-century monastic complex perched on the 230-meter high cliff top. He began to pick up different things he found from all the wildlife on one of the islands in the two-island chain. He loved all the various bird life. He was watching the muggles as he picked up feathers, broken egg shells and other things he thought might be useful. The Aurors that showed up gave themselves away even before they saw him. He picked up his pace as he headed towards the monastic complex. He dodged behind a fallen down wall and apparated out. 

He landed on Aran Islands. He headed towards one of the forts on the cliffs. He took his time and again picked up various potions ingredients again. He was bagging them as he heard the sounds of apparition clearly behind one of the farmhouses. He was close to the fort and darted towards the fort. He apparated out of there with a small smile on his face. He was enjoying himself.

He landed on the Cliffs of Moher. He saw a lot of muggles taking pictures and started to walk around. He didn't see many things he could hide behind, but it also appeared most people weren't paying attention to him. He was watching a person paint as he waited to see if the Aurors would arrive.

"That is lovely." Arthur told the man.

"Thank you. It's taken me a few days to paint it." The man replied. "I am here for another few weeks, just to paint the different views."

"There is a lot of those." Arthur laughed. 

"Yes, I am very grateful to be here." The man replied. 

"Have a good day, I am going to go and walk along the cliffs." Arthur said.

"You too." As Arthur started to walk towards the cliffs, he began to pick up different things as he walked and when he saw the Aurors, he cast a notice-me-not on himself and made it away from the crowds before he apparate to Hogwarts.

Arthur looked around "Hermione, Severus and Lucius not returned yet?"

"No but Minerva sent a warning that the Aurors are going to be delaying Severus and Lucius in Diagon Alley, they want to search in here and they have been trying to get a warrant to come in here." Draco answered.

"As soon as your potion wears off, most of us should head home, just in case they show up there. We haven't heard from anyone about them showing up at our homes as of yet." Luna answered. She handed Arthur a cup of tea.

"Hermione will be here shortly." Draco said. "You know she is going to run them ragged."

HERMIONE:

Hermione landed in muggle London, she quickly made her way to Green Park. The green, triangle-shaped expanse of leafy land just beyond the Ritz is Green Park. Penned in at two corners by St James's Park and Hyde Park, it was enclosed by Charles II in 1668 as a hunting ground before opening to the public in 1826. She moved through the woods looking for potion ingredients for Severus. She heard the sounds of an apparition and grinned. 

She apparated to Hyde Park. She enjoyed slightly 2.4 kilometers long and about slightly more than a kilometer wide park. It was one of the largest of London's Royal Parks. The land was appropriated in 1536 from the monks of Westminster Abbey by Henry VIII for hunting deer and, despite opening to the public in the early 1600s, was only frequented by the upper echelons of society. London's oldest boating lake, The Serpentine, is at the bottom of Hyde Park. It's not especially beautiful but is home to ducks, coots, swans and tufty-headed grebes, so Hermione began to gather ingredients for Severus from there. She walked around the park numerous times, picking up things before she finally heard the sounds of a few sets of apparitions. She waited for them to see her this time, she waved as she apparated.

Hermione landed in St James's Park was founded as a deer park for the royal occupants of St James's Palace, and remodeled by John Nash on the orders of George IV. The central lake is home to numerous species of wildfowl, including pelicans that have been kept here since the 17th century. The bridge over the lake offers views of Buckingham Palace, she wondered if some of the Aurors were still in Green Park and if they would see her here. She began looking for potion ingredients again, and when she started to stroll, she could see Hyde Park and in a corner of it, she was one of the Aurors looking for what she had been searching for. She hopes they didn't ruin any of the duck eggs. She actually made it a few times around the park before she heard and saw the Aurors head towards her. 

She apparated out and headed to the parks in Northern London, she would work on the South, then East than West, maybe popping back to Central again just to confuse them. When it was getting close to dinner time she apparated back to Hogwarts.

She landed with a huge smile on her face. "You should have seen their faces. They were running all over the place." Hermione joined Draco as he expanded his chair for her to join him. "When are they returning?"

"Not until after the Aurors arrive. Minerva said the Aurors are trying to get into here, they are going to keep them at the Leaky Cauldron." Ron told her. 

"I hope it's John Dawlish." Ginny stated.

"Why?" Hermione asked. 

Ginny told her about what happened with John Dawlish. "Do you think Severus and Lucius know him?" Hermione asked as she finished explaining.

"Head out. They are heading here." Minerva's Patronus of a cat appeared in the room. They all got up and apparated to their own home.

SEVERUS AND LUCIUS WITH KITTEN:

"How long do you think they can keep us here with their fake excuses?" Severus asked.

"I don't care, I say we are leaving in a few minutes." Lucius answered.

Kitten let out a small meow in agreement, causing some of newer Aurors to jump a bit. "Can you put a leash on him?" One of them asked.

Lucius looked down at Kitten. "No, he doesn't like them. I don't think you would like him if he got upset."

"Leave them alone." Thomas was sick of doing this, he was going to speak to his wife, but he knew by the end of the month he would be quitting, or if he found a job sooner.

Severus stood up, tossed some Galleons on the table. "Thank you, Tom." He wasn't going to be eating dinner here. They had spent an hour during lunch here, and when they went to floo back to Hogwarts they were blocked from leaving. Tom had given them some tea and biscuits while they were kept waiting. Tom had given Kitten some cream.

Lucius stood up as Kitten moved towards the floo. "You can't leave." One of the Aurors said.

"You can't keep us, we haven't done anything." Lucius stated.

"I would love for you to try to keep us here." Severus sneered. He took some floo powder after paying for three trips and tossed it in "Hogwarts, Headmistresses' Office." Kitten went into the floo. 

Severus and Lucius followed and entered the office to find Kitten had Shacklebolt pinned to the floor. "Kitten, come." Severus said.

"What is going on?" Lucius asked.

"He had his wand out and shot a spell at Kitten." Minerva stated. 

Dawlish helped Shacklebolt up as Mad-Eye moved forward. "I am going to get that animal put down." Mad-Eye said. 

"You have no grounds. If you bring this up in front of the Wizengamot, I will remind them that you are a retired Auror, working to hunt down Harry Potter and when a lion went to defend someone you want to have him put down. I will also mention how a certain Minister has been harassing the professors here in Hogwarts in an attempt to search again and again for someone who you have yet to see here." Lucius remarked. "I am also sure the goblins will mention some interesting facts regarding a certain old man." 

Severus, Minerva, and Lucius could see they understood what Lucius meant. Mad-Eye was one of the ones who knew what was going on, they could see that Shacklebolt was following the old coot's plan, Lucius figured let their own guilt do the work. They watched Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye retreat a bit in their stance. "We have the right to search your quarters." Mad-Eye finally stated.

"I don't believe Lucius, Minerva or I said you couldn't." Severus answered. "You will, however, not destroy our quarters again. If anything is ruined, you will be paying for it." 

"I agree, I am sick of replacing things." Lucius answered. 

They headed out of the office and when they reached the hall, they heard Kitten let out a roar and pounced on Dawlish, licking his face. "Enough Kitten, I don't have any catnip." Dawlish laughed. 

Kitten got off of Dawlish. "Kitten, no catnip." Severus said. "If you behave, I am sure Lucius will brush your mane out again." Kitten trotted off to their quarters.

Three hours later:

Severus sat down. Harry pulled him closer. "You alright?"

"Yes, just getting annoyed with Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye." Severus answered. 

"Well hopefully, they won't be back for a while, since the ceremonies are tomorrow." Lucius added.

"They will be back, they aren't going to give up." Harry said. "Did you hear Dawlish?"

"What did he say?" Lucius asked.

"He said some of the Aurors are getting ready to quit, this was the tipping point for a lot of them." Harry said. "That was why I pounced on him. He wanted me to, so he could tell me."

"Great recruits and trainees." Severus commented.

"How does a long, relaxing bath sound?" Lucius asked.

"Sounds wonderful." Severus and Harry said.


	7. Summer Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> About two weeks after the year anniversary of Voldemort's death and Harry Hunting gone wrong.

Harry was sitting at Severus' desk, reviewing the account information Lucius needed him to sign. He knew the students were gone and he expected Severus and Lucius to join him soon. He made some notes on the contract and set it aside. He felt the wards go off and he transformed into Kitten. He was sitting on the floor as Severus and Lucius entered followed by Poppy. 

"Let me get the potion for you. It's in my private lab." Severus glanced at Kitten, who was just sitting by Severus' desk.

"Does he get lonely when you aren't around during the day?" Poppy asked as Kitten moved to Lucius, who was now sitting in his favorite chair. Poppy didn't really see Kitten unless it was in the Great Hall for meals. Poppy usually spent her time in the Infirmary. 

"No, he is usually with one of us." Severus answered.

"Catnip." Lucius said as he knew that would explain everything. 

"We also take him outside a lot." Severus gave Lucius a quick look, as Poppy let out a bit of laugh. The last catnip mess had made the rounds in the staff room. "Your turn."

"I know, I will take him for a run after lunch." Lucius responded. "I know you need to make those potions for St. Mungo's."

Kitten let out a small roar, got up and headed towards Severus. "Let me get Poppy the potion than I will give you your snack." Severus ran his hand through Kitten's mane. "He needs to be brushed again."

Lucius laughed. "His snack is usually Severus' catnip laced meat." Letting Poppy know why Kitten wanted his snack. They watched Kitten paw at Severus' robes, where Severus kept the pouch of dried meat. "I will give him a good brushing before we come back inside after our walk."

When Severus tried to head to his lab, Kitten started to follow. "You stay out of my lab, you don't fit into it. Last time you also left cat fur behind too." Kitten bumped his head into Severus' hip. "Kitten, behave." Severus sighed and tried to head to his lab again.

"The house elves must love cleaning up your quarters." Poppy snickered. 

"Dobby does it, and you know how he feels about Harry." Lucius was still smiling as he was watching Kitten trying to get Severus to give him the dried meat.

"Lucius, can you call him?" Severus asked as he was blocked from entering his lab by the lion. "If I give him the meat you know what will happen."

"There are Aurors out in the woods." Poppy informed them. Minerva had shared the memories of Kitten and the Aurors with her.

Severus glanced down to Kitten, than to Lucius. "Kitten, let me into my lab and I will give you snack. Lucius will take you out to play." Kitten sat down and Severus entered his lab.

"Does he always listen?" Poppy asked.

"Generally, but it really depends on his mood. When it comes to chasing Aurors and catnip, he usually is willing to do anything." Lucius answered.

"I have to say after watching him chase Kingsley in the Great Hall, I can understand the pleasure. Did you hear that they just got a bunch of Aurors resign? At last count I heard was around twenty, Hermione was telling me they are stepping up the Auror Training Program. She said Ron and Draco were given the option to have their training hours reduced and their experience expanded, if they agree they would get a higher pay but if they stay in the normal program they wouldn't get those options for the pay increase but would be expected to do the training and work with another Auror to get experience. They are only offering it to those who served in the war."

"I heard the rumor some were thinking of quitting." Lucius was actually surprised, they only expected one or two that would quit. He didn't know about the option being given. He was going to have to see if this was approved by the Wizengamot.

"Well it will give Kitten plenty of exercise." Severus said as he entered the room. He handed the potion to Poppy. "If they need more I have another two of them. I will add it to my list of potions to make this weekend."

"I will let them know." Poppy stood up. "I will see you at dinner." Poppy headed out of their quarters. 

As soon as she was gone, Harry transformed back into himself. "That was interesting." Lucius said. 

"I agree. I wonder if we can get more information." Harry asked. "Do you think John or Augustus might be able to provide us with more information?" Harry pulled Severus to him, giving the man a kiss. 

"You know it was there running around trying to find you before the anniversary that made most of them resent their jobs." Lucius answered. "So many are sick of the Ministry trying to find you and being in the Forbidden Forest for hours isn't fun, well for most people, you two enjoy it." He smirked at his husbands, as he watched them. He knew they loved to go into the Forbidden Forest.

Severus could spend hours looking for ingredients while Kitten could spend hours chasing things or hunting for something Severus wanted. They discovered that as a lion, Harry could find so many things based off of his sense of smell, things that might have been missed by Severus. "Can you use that to keep them off of me for a while?" Harry asked.

"I plan on it, and the multiple sightings also. Harry, did you review those contracts and sign the letters?" Lucius summoned a foot-stool and put his feet up. 

"Yes, but there are two I want you to look at, I had some questions." Harry answered. As the head of their house, Harry had to sign any and all contracts and investment deals. He always listened to Severus and Lucius' advice concerning their vaults and investments. "Severus, there was a new contract from St. Mungo's for you to look at. They want you to make that new scar potion."

"I will look at it." Severus answered, not moving from Harry. "Minerva said the last staff meeting will be on Friday, so we can leave for our holiday after that." He looked at Lucius, who was clearly ready to take a nap.

"Good, I will have Dobby and Kreacher get the Castle ready." Harry moved to his seat and pulled Severus into his lap. 

"Draco and Hermione will arrive on the fifteenth and will stay for a week, Neville, Ron, and Luna will arrive on the sixteenth. The twins and their girlfriends will arrive on the fourteenth." Lucius informed them, not opening his eyes. "I need some coffee, I think."

"Kreacher, coffee." Harry said. Coffee appeared in a few seconds. Harry knew that Kreacher kept a fresh pot for Lucius.

"Minerva will keep an eye our quarters and let us know if Aurors or the Ministry start looking for you, Harry." Severus added. "How will the time off affect the decision regarding the Auror training?" 

"They are given from the fifteenth to the first of August each year off for a short holiday." Lucius frowned. "Kingsley might change that now since so many have quit and they are offering this new program."

"I am sure they will tell us." Severus replied. The floo went off and Severus stood up and Harry transformed into Kitten. Severus answered the floo to see Draco in the flames.

"Draco?" Lucius asked.

"Hello, Father, I got some good news and bad news." Draco told him.

"Let me guess, you can't come on holiday with us because they are speeding up the Auror program and you and Ron are wanting to do it because of the pay increase offer." Lucius said. "It's fine, we thought it might happen." Lucius really would have liked to spend time with his son but he understood.

Draco smirked, he wasn't surprised his father knew ahead of time. "Thank you, Father, we were looking forward to it, but this is important."

"We understand Draco." Lucius answered. Kitten moved to stand in front of the flame and gave a low roar. 

"Hi Kitten, sorry no catnip." Draco told the lion. "They offered Ron and I a shorter program because of the war. They want to test us later this week, so we might have an even shorter training period." 

"Do you think you will be ready for the testing?" Severus asked.

"Do you think you and Father could run down spells with us before you leave on holiday? It would really help. I am going to ask Harry too." 

Lucius sat up, looked at Severus and to Kitten. Kitten hadn't moved so Lucius understood that meant it was fine with Harry. "We will gladly help and you know Harry will too." Lucius answered.

"Thank you." Draco said. "Are you still coming Sunday for dinner?" 

"Yes, I told Hermione I would bring some Bread Pudding." Severus answered. "I know that is your favorite."

"Hermione is going to be home soon, I will see you on Sunday." Draco told them. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Lucius said and leaned back into his seat, only to get nudged by Kitten. "Let me have a few more sips of coffee and then I will take you out. Go and get your snack from Severus." 

Kitten turned to face Severus who stood up. "Yes, yes, I am getting it out. You do realize how spoiled you are." Kitten stood up and surprised Severus and Lucius by standing up on his back paws and putting his front paws on Severus' shoulders, he licked Severus' face. "Yuck, and get down, you weigh a ton." Kitten went back to all fours and nudged Severus' hand. "I believe I need to review the idea of feeding you snacks." 

Kitten roared a bit louder and added a slight growl at that. "I don't think he likes that idea."

Kitten decided he didn't want to wait any longer and with his head knocked Severus back into his chair and stuck his face into Severus' robe pocket. "Get your furry face out of my robe pocket. I will pull out the pouch, you are such a pushy lion."

Kitten sat down and was clearly waiting for Severus to pull out the pouch. Severus made a slow show of pulling out the pouch, and Lucius could see that Kitten knew he was doing it on purpose. "You know he is going to make you pay for that tonight."

Severus grinned. "I know." 

"Tease." Lucius replied as Severus finally had the pouch out in front of him. He watched Severus slowly open it the pouch and finally pulling the pieces of dried meat out. "You better give him a few pieces."

"Really?" Severus asked, wondering what Lucius was thinking of.

"I am just going to take a guess but I am thinking there will be more than the usual three in the forest today. Kingsley was upset about the Harry sightings and today was the first day since the anniversary that there weren't any events." 

"He would do something like that." Severus pulled out a few more pieces and gave them to Kitten. "Do you want me to take him out instead? You looked like you need a nap."

"You need to start on those potions, besides the walk will wake me up a bit, I will sit on one of the benches while he chases them and then brush him out." Lucius stood up, gave Severus a quick kiss. "Come on Furball, let's go and find some Aurors."

Kitten almost bounced his way to the door. "I will turn down the bed so that you can take a nap when you return."

Lucius grinned as he opened the door. "Thank you, I believe we will taking advantage of the bed."

They heard a slight yelp and they looked into the hall as they saw Kitten was clearly excited at seeing someone. "Have fun." Severus smirked as he closed the door.


	8. Things Take An Interesting Turn

Lucius was sitting on the bench, reading the Daily Prophet, he heard some growling but ignored it as he knew Kitten would handle anything that would endanger them when a shadow blocked the sun shining on his paper. "Lucius, I was wondering if I could speak to you?"

Lucius looked up and wondered why Kingsley Shacklebolt was standing in front of him with a few Aurors surrounding him. "It's Lord Malfoy." Kitten growled again and Lucius put his hand on him. "What do you wish to speak to me about?"

"May I?" Kingsley indicated he wanted to sit, at Lucius' nod, he summoned a chair. Lucius knew that Kingsley wouldn't want to sit on the bench because Kitten was sitting between them and since that time that Kitten chased Kingsley, the man avoided the lion as much as he could. "I would like to speak to you about something but I am hoping you and Severus will think it over."

"What can we help you with?" Lucius was wondering what the man was thinking. He knew the man didn't know they were bonded.

Kingsley pulled out his wand, ignoring the growling lion, cast a Muffliato on them. "I am aware you hold the Prince, Potter and Black seats, however, we need to find Harry. I am hoping you consider aiding us in retrieving Harry and having him aid the Ministry. We need to show our society that the Ministry is united and wants to help everyone recover from the effects of the war."

"You want us to retrieve Harry?" Lucius isn't sure who is more in shock Kitten or him. The lion laid his head down on Lucius' leg and was clearly wondering what is going on.

"Yes, Albus always said that Severus could find anyone and I believe with your guidance, Harry will listen to what we need him to do." 

"What exactly do you believe Harry needs to do?" Lucius was trying not to curse the man. Did the man honestly think that Lucius or Severus would agree to this idea.

"I am afraid I can't discuss that at this time. Needless to say, the Ministry needs Harry to be seen, to be seen supporting the Ministry." Kingsley stated.

"Why?" Lucius understood what the man wanted, but since the man was a fool and not a Slytherin either, Lucius was hoping to get more information out of him. 

"We have numerous laws that need to be passed, we also have some that wouldn't be good to have them pass." 

Lucius patted Kitten for a few seconds, eyeing Kingsley. He wondered if the man even understood what was wrong with what he just said. He wanted to explain the laws that they wanted Harry to be against were the ones his best friend Hermione Malfoy was pushing forward. "You are aware that Harry and my daughter-in-law are best friends and he will support her endeavors."

"I am not worried about that." Kingsley dismissed Lucius' concern.

When Lucius heard those words he froze, as did the lion sitting between his legs. He knew they were going to rely on that house and most likely spells and potions to get Harry to obey. Dumbledore had tried that same thing and the only thing it did was get Dumbledore killed. "I will speak to Severus, but I can tell you, if we do find him, we won't turn him over for you to drug and tout him around as some Ministry puppet." Lucius warned.

"No need to worry, once we have Harry, we will handle everything." Kingsley replied calmly, which sent the warning bells off in Lucius' mind. 

Lucius stood up. "I believe it's almost time for my afternoon class and I need to get Kitten to Severus." Kitten stood up and as he took his first step he knocked Kingsley's chair back sending the man to the ground. "He still thinks he is a kitten, doesn't realize his size. He is always knocking over things." Lucius didn't even turn around as the Aurors were trying not to laugh at Kingsley worked his way off of the ground. "Next time, ruin his robes again." Lucius quietly told the lion.

Kitten turned around and looked at Kingsley and the Aurors and started to run at Kingsley. The Aurors seeing the running lion moved out of the way. Kitten slowed a bit as he got closer and before Kingsley realized what was happening, he was back on the ground with his robes in the lion's mouth. They all heard the ripping sound as Kitten shook his head. Once the fabric was free, Kitten started to run around with it in his mouth. "Kill that lion." Kingsley yelled.

None of the Aurors even draw out their wand, and suddenly Mad-Eye is in front of Lucius. "You need to control your familiar." Mad-Eye said.

"He isn't my familiar. He is actually just a lion." Lucius answered. Kitten growled with the destroyed robes hanging from his mouth. "He really hates how often our quarters have been searched, during one of your last one, one of the Aurors destroyed his favorite chew toy, it had catnip it in too."

"You mean that beast has been doing it because his favorite toy was destroyed?" The puzzlement was clear in Mad-Eye's voice.

"Yes, of course, how would you feel if someone kept sending people into your home and destroying things?" Lucius was wondering if they could keep using that excuse. "He may be a lion but as you can see he is far from stupid."

"Just because you got off, doesn't mean I am not onto you. Once a Death Eater always a Death Eater." Mad-Eye said.

"Once a mad paranoid old fool always a mad paranoid old fool, amazing how that works out." Lucius replied. When Mad-Eye went to pull his wand, he found his wrist in the jaws of a growling lion. "He really hates when people pull wands on us." 

"Tell him to let me go or I will make sure he gets put down and use his pelt as a rug in my bedroom." Mad-Eye stated.

"You went to pull your wand, he is defending me, it won't work, but I do have a class, Kitten release the mean man." Lucius touched Kitten's mane. 

Kitten released the wrist, growled at Mad-Eye, took a step and planted himself between Lucius and Mad-Eye. He was sitting on the ruined robes he dropped when he took Mad-Eye's wrist in his mouth. "He is a menace." 

Lucius didn't reply, he started walking towards the doors of Hogwarts. Kitten was following him with the ruined robes in his mouth again. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the Minister leaving with Mad-Eye. "Go and find Severus, I am going to speak to Minerva quickly." 

Kitten headed down to the potion classroom, with the ruined robes hanging from his mouth, as Lucius headed to the Headmistress' office.

________________________________________________________________________________

Severus heard the low roar at his classroom door. He headed towards the door. "Your potion should be lilac in coloring, nice and thick. If it is, ladle it and place it on my desk. If you don't have the correct potion, I will see you tonight for you to remake it." He opened the door and looked down at a very smug lion who was some very colorful material in his mouth. "What did Lucius allow you to do?"

Kitten ignored him and started to do a slow jog towards his bed by Severus' desk. He dropped the ruined robes into it. Severus had followed the lion and when he got to the bed, he reached down and picked up the material. "Whose robes did you destroy?" Kitten yawned as the bell went off signaling the end of the class. "Reminder, your essays are due on Monday, class dismissed." 

As soon as the last student left, Severus closed the classroom door and warded it. Harry transformed back into himself. "You aren't going to believe what just happened."

"I am going to say it has something to do with those destroyed robes." 

Harry laughed. "I would say let me show you in the pensive but I think Lucius will want to review it too. However, basically, Kingsley showed up with a team of Aurors with Mad-Eye." Harry quickly filled Severus in on what happened, leaving Severus grinning when he told him about Mad-Eye. 

"It might be fun to get paid by the Ministry to look for you. Lucius would have to make sure they don't sneak anything into the contract." Severus finally responded after laughing.

"I think that is what he is thinking, hopefully, work on figuring out what this plan is." Harry replied.

"I agree. We do need to know what this plan is. Kingsley is very determined to follow it. We have the added bonus of having people in place already." Severus replied. 

"True. Ones they don't know about, as you know they won't tell Ron, Draco or Hermione anything." Harry responded. "Want to go and hunt for potion ingredients?"

"You just want to see if you can find Mad-Eye in the Forbidden Forest."

"True." Harry grinned.

"Come on, let's go to our quarters instead, I don't want to take a chance on him even getting the idea of turning you into a rug." Harry transformed and grabbed the ruined robe in his jaws. "I am taking it we are saving this as a memento?" Kitten nodded his head and walked to the door. "I will see if we can get John to let Augustus know we need that collar sooner rather than later."


	9. What I Did Over The Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> about 13 and 1/2 months after Volde's death like mid July

"Harry, have you seen my black shirt?" Lucius asked, coming out of their bedroom.

"It's packed. Dobby packed it. I wanted him to pack it for when we have our anniversary dinner." Harry answered, not looking up from the bills on the desk. "I hope the Minister isn't expecting us to pay for those destroyed robes. He can pay for them himself. Idiot sending me a bill." Harry was mumbling but it wasn't really low and Lucius hid his smirk as he was speaking.

"He actually sent us a bill?" Severus asked from his favorite chair. He was reading his newest potion journal. "Lucius, make sure to add our shampoo to our things, Dobby packed before we took our showers."

"Yes, I think he is billing us for his replacements. Madam Malkin said in an additional note that she was just letting us know he wanted it done and she will be billing him for the robes. She said how dare he try to take on a lion and expect to win." Harry laughed. 

Lucius had taken his favorite spot by the fireplace and had his legs up. Severus and Lucius were still smirking has Harry laughed. "I already did. I was going to wear my black shirt to our dinner tonight when we go to the Manor." 

"When do we want to leave, I told Hermione and Draco we would leave directly from their home to the Castle after we had dinner with the family." Severus asked. Since it was Sunday, they were having their weekly dinner with the family and afterward they would be gone for two weeks on vacation. 

"What the bloody hell?" Harry snarled. "I can't believe the sheer nerve of that man!" His magic lashed out, but it was quickly restrained.

"Harry?" They asked. Harry rarely lost his temper now and never swore, so they wondered what was going on.

"Kingsley sent you a contract for looking for me, not that we weren't expecting it but you should hear the terms." Harry reigned in his anger. "He expects you to find me by the end of the summer, or you won't be paid. He expects you to just hand me over no questions asked from them or you, we expected that part. It also states that Mad-Eye is to be informed of all of the search details and be allowed to assist you, assist my arse. Mad-Eye can veto any decision or method you select and you will use his methods if he decides. There are more restrictions that are just flat out stupid, like this one. You will both be considered Ministry employees and be subjected to the terms and conditions associated with that, including Legilimency, if you refuse Legilimency, you can go to Azkaban for treason. How in the blue blazes do they think you would sign this?"

"Are you serious? I am so glad I reviewed Draco and Ron's contracts for their advanced training if that is what they put in ours." Lucius wondered what those two idiots were thinking of with that contract. They knew he was a barrister and they knew he would read them. 

"Did he think we wouldn't read it?" Severus wondered aloud. "Are they as balmy as Albus "I Give New Meaning To Crazy" Dumbledore was?"

"No idea, but unless you want me to tell them exactly what they can do with this contract, Lucius, you better respond back to it."

"I agree, you know what I will do to it." Severus added.

"I actually have an idea about that contract." Lucius grinned. 

"I do like your ideas." Harry answered. 

"Cast some detection spells on it." Lucius said. 

"I did. You know I never touch our mail without doing that." Harry answered. 

"You do it on the envelopes and then a series of scans to make sure nothing dangerous like a poison on the parchment, but I want you to test it for compulsions geared towards Severus and me." 

Severus got up out of his seat, his wand out. Harry already was casting and Severus started his own. "I am going to kill him." Harry snarled.

"Compulsion spells and loyalty?" Lucius asked.

"Yes and a truth serum." Severus answered.

"That is why they added those clauses, they were counting on neither of us to run the scans, one of us signing it. It would only take Severus or me signing it for them to get their own way. They know Severus would assist me and I would assist him. They would also have Kitten for searching, which is why I think that aspect about Mad-Eye overruling our decision is in there. Mad-Eye would use it as a way to get Harry and kill Kitten at the same time." Lucius explained.

"I have my own idea." Harry grinned at them.

"What idea?" Severus and Lucius exchanged a look. Harry had proven he was a true Slytherin on more than one occasion, starting when he out Malfoyed Lucius concerning Dobby.

"Lucius, who do you think would enjoy receiving this contract?" Harry asked, sweetly. 

"Oh, that is evil and it would pay them back for being involved with everything." Lucius grinned matched the evil smirk that appeared on Severus' face as he said those words. 

"They certainly wouldn't check for the compulsion or loyalty spells. We also know they have no clue on how to do anything." Harry answered. 

"Write out the envelope. I am sure Doge and Podemore will enjoy their summer holiday." Severus couldn't stop grinning thinking of the two old men with Mad-Eye trying to figure out what exactly happened and how it happened.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Back at Hogwarts after their holiday: *A/N I am going to do their vacation as the next chapter.*

They made their way slowly up to Minerva's office. She had floo called them to inform them that Kingsley and Mad-Eye were waiting for them in her office. She had sent a message to them while they were away, first congratulating them on the wonderful way they handled the contract, and then admonishing them for not giving her any warning as she had a visit from Kingsley and Mad-Eye wondering where they were. She also informed them that they demanded entrance into their quarters to confirm that they were indeed on holiday. She told them nothing was destroyed, hearing Kingsley warning Mad-Eye not to destroy anything after the bill they got for the last search.

Kitten let out a low growl at the bottom of the stairs. He wasn't in a good mood, neither were Severus and Lucius, they were getting sick of the games. They rode the stairs to the top and could hear Mad-Eye saying "that bloody lion better not try anything."

"If he does it will be your own fault." Minerva retorted. Severus knocked, they put their Slytherin masks on. "Enter."

They walked in to see Kingsley and Mad-Eye sitting in front of Minerva's desk. She was glaring at the pair of them. They could see that she hadn't ordered tea, so they knew she was furious. "Minerva, Kingsley, Mad-Eye how delightful to see you." Lucius greeted them pleasantly, only Minerva, Severus, and Harry knew the man wasn't sincere in his words.

"Lucius, care to explain why the contract we sent you ended up in Lord Doge and Lord Podemore's hands?" 

"It did? Really how shocking. As you know we just got back here, when was the contract delivered?" Lucius asked.

"It was sent about two weeks ago." Kingsley responded. 

"Well, we have been gone for two weeks, we were in Spain, we left after our usual Sunday dinner at Malfoy Manor." Lucius responded. "We just arrived back at Hogwarts shortly before we were summoned up here." He knew the Ministry didn't normally send out contracts on a weekend, so they would assume it was sent out on Monday. He knew that Kingsley or Mad-Eye hadn't written that contract. They had someone else do that job and John and Augustus were working on finding out who in the Ministry was aiding them in the endeavor to control Harry.

Kitten growled as Mad-Eye started to walk towards them. Mad-Eye stopped. "I don't know what game you are playing, but I am watching you."

"We are aware." Lucius responded. "You have made it known." He could feel Severus glaring at Mad-Eye and he knew Kitten was the only reason why this meeting hadn't had wands pulled out. Mad-Eye and Kingsley knew that Kitten would protect Lucius and Severus. 

"This isn't over." Mad-Eye informed them.

"It is over." Minerva stated. "I have no idea what exactly is going on, but I will not have you threatening my staff. I will be submitting the numerous searches, the destruction your Aurors have done to this school and my memories of these events to the Board and the Wizengamot. You will not be coming back here searching for Harry Potter without evidence." She knew it was only a short-term measure at stopping them, but she would do it.

"I will also be adding my own memories, I am interested to see what this contract contain that has gotten you up in arms." Lucius looked at Kingsley. "We did have a redirect on our mail since we were overseas, you might want to find out if that is how they received our contract."

"I will resend you a new one." Kingsley responded.

"Please don't, we won't have much time, just about two weeks if that. School starts next month, and all the staff is required to be here two weeks before that." Lucius informed them.

"That is very true, they are required by their current contracts to be here on 15th." Minerva added.

"I believe we're done here." Kingsley glared at them. 

Severus still hadn't moved, Kitten was between them and they all knew that the contract would not be mentioned again. Mad-Eye and Kingsley would make sure it would disappear as if anyone ever saw it, tested it, and let it out what it was soaked in, if it did, Mad-Eye and Kingsley would be in Azkaban quicker than they could blink. Severus knew that Mad-Eye was upset because he got taken by two Death Eaters. "Good day." Minerva said. 

They waited until they could see Kingsley and Mad-Eye leaving Hogwarts from the windows, Minerva froze the paintings, as they sat down. Harry transformed into himself. "Glad to see that backfired on them."

"Do I want to know?" Minerva asked.

"It was a very bad plan of theirs." Harry answered. 

"Indeed." Severus said as he took a seat. "Harry actually had the idea." 

"It was brilliant." Lucius agreed, at her questioning look, Lucius explained what the contract been soaked in and the spells attached to it. 

"Are they really that moronic?" Minerva asked after they were done. 

"They are trying to follow his plan but Albus kept his plans and methods close to his chest, so I believe they only have a rough outline. Mad-Eye and Kingsley don't know how to manipulate people like he did. Mad-Eye is too paranoid and is used to dealing with Death Eaters and criminals, he isn't subtle. Kingsley is a bit more diplomatic, but again only knows how to deal with criminals. Neither of them is very well liked in the Auror Corps and the Ministry for what they are doing. Kingsley's term is up in six years. I don't think he will get re-elected." Lucius said. 

While the Minister's terms were four years, Kingsley's was extended as a way of providing a secure form of government, a way to make the general population feel more secure. Dumbledore had set it up shortly before his death. He wanted Kingsley in for ten years, he got eight instead.

"I am wondering if we should do a Harry Hunting event every few months, might get more to quit and really put the pressure on them. If they don't have enough trained Aurors they won't be looking for Harry." Minerva stated.

"Problem with that is that if we get too many that quit, we might not have enough to stop the real criminals." Harry stated.

"I say we speak to John, get a feeling for what is going on with the Aurors and base it off of what he says." Severus thought it would be a good way to gauge how often they do it. He could keep a steady supply of Polyjuice Potions handy.

"Sounds like a good plan. Get everyone to meet someplace and form ideas, a disorder group?" Minerva put forth.

"Yes, a disorder group sounds grand." Harry smiled at her.

"As long as we don't use a phoenix for the symbol or name." Severus mumbled. 

"I was thinking a lion." Minerva retorted.


	10. Fun In The Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vacation for the boys

Their two weeks :) (a/n -----indicates a different day or event)

"The tourists will be here soon." Lucius said from behind Severus, who was on the balcony of their room, enjoying the view.

"Why does he allow them access to our home?" Severus asked, without moving his head. "I thought he was going to ban tourists from Castell de Bellver. He doesn't like the limelight any more than I do."

"He was, but it's in the terms of ownership, it seems at one time our castle was used as the main source of protecting the people and the Lord at the time, knew his sons would change it once he died, so he added those clauses in, like open access that will allow the tourists to almost have complete access to our home. Thankfully most find it more of a history lesson and while they are allowed to wander around, they don't stay too long." Lucius said. He moved behind Severus and pulled him into arms. "The views are amazing." He said. They were looking over the Bay of Palma, they could see the marina far off in the distance. "Harry wants to take the boat out later."

"I will need to make him a potion, him and being on the water do not mix." Severus snorted at the memory of the first time they went out on the boat, it was during their short courtship. Lucius had wanted to go sailing and Harry wanted to make him happy. Lucius took them out to the English Channel and Harry was seasick the moment he stepped onto the boat. 

"Remember how sick he got?" Lucius had been trying to teach them how to sail, but Harry was so green and sickly, he spent the entire time leaning over the side of the boat. It took them three days and the promise of a lot of potions to get him on the water again. Once they did, and the potion worked, it became almost impossible to get him off of the water.

"Since it's Monday and the castle closes for tours at 1, Harry thought we would enjoy being gone for the morning and having lunch down in the Restaurante Toque." Lucius told him. "After lunch, a stroll through the Madrid marketplace. He said something about you being able to get some of the Spanish magical potion ingredients there."

"Where is Harry? He is usual out here with me enjoying the view, you are usually asleep." Severus looked over his shoulder. "I am glad we got away, I think he was ready to eat Kingsley and Mad-Eye over that contract." 

"He was in the shower. I am worried about him, he spends a lot of time as Kitten." Lucius rested his head on Severus' shoulder, gave Severus a kiss on the side of his neck, on the mark that Harry left there from last night.

"He does, but he handles it fine. To be honest with you Lucius, since the Dark Lord's death, this is the freest I have ever seen Harry. He is actually enjoying himself and I don't want that to stop. The old coot did so much in the name of the greater good, and it was usually at Harry's expense."

"Yours too." Lucius told him, giving him a squeeze. He wasn't going to let Severus downplay his own hurts.

"Mine was a lot of my own making, Luc, you know that. I was an adult also, what excuse did he have for what he did to Harry?" 

Lucius sighed, he knew that Severus spoke the truth, he always had and would. "How about a more pleasant subject?" A new voice joined them on the balcony. "It's our vacation and I want us to enjoy it." Harry moved to stand next to Severus, who pulled Harry into his arms. "Morning." He said, from the comfort of his husbands' arms.

______________________________________________________________________________

 

"Sev, we are going to the beach, not lazing around the house. You are going to roast in black trousers and a white shirt." Lucius stood in their bedroom, he was wearing white linen trousers with a matching shirt, his bathing trunks were already packed.

"Actually I was going to go and take that motor scooter tour they are offering. I heard one of the tourists mentioned it. It sounded interesting, you know I hate the beach, sand everywhere." Severus answered as he began to put on his boots. "I want to see what this island has to offer."

"What is a moter skoter?" Lucius asked, he had agreed to learn more about muggles and was trying but they still confused him greatly.

"It's one of the muggle ways they travel, it's a two-wheeled car." Severus answered. "Do you want to join me? I think Harry would enjoy it too. We can see all the different things that Palma de Mallorca has to offer. I mean our home here is nice, but it would be fun to see what else there is around here." 

Harry stepped out of the bathroom and seeing Severus on the bed, clearly not dressed for the beach asked, "what is the plan for the day? I want to avoid the tourists who will be descending on our home soon."

"Sev mentioned something about a moter skoter." Lucius told him, "it will take us around Palma de Mallorca."

Harry covered the laugh at Lucius mispronouncing the words, "Pet, it's motor scooter and we will drive it to where we want to go. I didn't know they had them for tours. I will see about buying some for us to use during our stays here."

"Yes, I heard a tourist mention it yesterday as the Castle was closing, they wanted to use the scooters to see some of the other sights. I had Dobby get me a pamphlet and it looked interesting, they list all the different tourist attractions." Severus summoned the pamphlet and held it out to Lucius and Harry.

Lucius took it and opened it as Harry read it also. "Oh, look, Palma Aquarium, I never been in one before." Harry pointed to it on the pamphlet. "I been to a zoo and that was interesting."

"You have never, nevermind I realized why." Severus responded, remembering their conversations about Harry's upbringing, It still made Lucius and Severus want to go and curse his relatives. "We can do it tomorrow, or another day, we still have 12 more days here."

"Do we have more pamphlets?" Lucius asked. "I want to check out a few spots also. There is a day trip they have listed called Captain Cook."

"Isn't he a wizard?" Severus asked. Lucius handed the pamphlet to Harry. 

"Yes, he owns the company that handles the day trips." Harry responded. "He sent us an invite for dinner. I got it last night, and haven't had time to respond, do you want to go?"

"Yes." They responded. They wanted to hear about his pirate days.

"If I remember correctly, he is also a Potion Master." Severus added. "I wonder why ingredients I can find here." This was their first time spending quantity time here and while they had spent a night or two in Bellvar Castle before, they had never really explored the area. "Why don't I have Dobby get us the different pamphlets for the area?"

Harry looked up from the pamphlet he was still reading through, as Lucius decided to go and change since they were going to go sight seeing. "Sounds good. I did make dinner reservations at Jazz Voyeur Club. I know you both will like the live music." He saw the look of interest that passed over Severus' face. The man loved music.

"Let's go, I want to get some good scooters." Severus told them. 

____________________________________________________________________________

"Severus we can return." Lucius told them. They were in Mercado de Santa Catalina and while Lucius and Harry were enjoying the food, as it was a foodie's paradise, and they had been here for hours. Severus was going on about the different potion ingredients and they had already sent Dobby back to England with ingredients three times already. Lucius had brought them here as a way to sample all of the food and experience some of the culture.

"We can stop by Es Reco Balear later this week. I was told they stock a wide variety of Jamon Iberico, Sobrasada, Fuet, cheeses and I am sure we can get a lot more ingredients to send home." Harry told Severus, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Juan, the guy at the first fish stall, is a wizard and he told me about a magical market off on of the islands. He will give me the apparition coordinates tomorrow." 

"They do have three fresh fish stalls with a fabulous range of very fresh fish, a sushi bar, several great fruit and vegetable stalls, even ones that focus on hamburgers, a florist, which I know you will love, a vintner, a couple of butchers plus a small shop that has local produce." Severus told them. "I read the pamphlet on it. It's on the list of places I want to visit before we leave. Dobby found a house elf here that will help us out with ingredients."

"There are a couple of coffee stands down that aisle. Lucius, there is a bakery that is down in the corner and a couple of tapas bars." Harry grinned. 

"I already went to the tapas bar already. It was Bar la Tapita, they had pinchos." Lucius grinned as he held up a bag. "I already spoke to Dobby also, I placed a monthly order for some pinchos and tapas."

Harry laughed. "I believe we are going to be coming here more than once a year from now on." Last time they had come it was only for a few days. They had just spent the days at the Castle, relaxing and just enjoying time away from Hogwarts and the magical world.

Severus leaned into Harry and whispered, "I can make it worth it if we keep coming back." Lucius smiled as Harry gave Severus a kiss. Severus held up another bag that he would know adding more potion ingredients to it.

"I have a feeling it will be a monthly trip for us. I am sure Minerva would enjoy some of the things we can bring back. I got her some tea and picked up some of the local wine for all of us." Harry told her. He knew Lucius was a wine lover and he picked up a surprise for Lucius later.

"I made reservations for us to take the wine tour." Lucius said. "I am sure, however, that everyone doesn't need us standing around in the middle of the market."

Severus looked around "give me another hour and then we can head home." Severus was enjoying their vacation. It was something that they really had needed. They had done the jazz club last night and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They had been teaching Harry about different types of music and found Harry appreciated it in all forms. 

"Tomorrow we will do the fish zoo." Lucius responded. "I want to see it."

"You mean the Aquarium?" Harry asked.

"Yes, it's a fish zoo isn't it?" Lucius looked. "It's fish in cages." 

Harry grinned and pulled his husband closer to him as he said, "don't ever change, Love." 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

"Harry I want to go to La Biblioteca de Babel for lunch." Severus handed the pamphlet to Harry. He knew Harry wasn't going to deny his request. Harry rarely did, he also knew he didn't have to ask permission to go but they did like the fact that Harry was in charge and enjoyed his control over them. 

"Today?" Harry asked. "I wanted to go on the wine tour tomorrow. I made the reservations for the three of us. There are a few different ones. One is a small family one, which I think we will enjoy."

"So can we do the Biblioteca today?" Severus looked at his husband, he knew the answer but he stilled wanted his dominates permission. He only did it when they were together, he had long ago accepted that he needed a strong dominate and he needed to submit. Harry always fulfilled his needs and wants. 

"Yes, Pet, we can. Severus do you need me to take more control, I know I haven't been doing it since we're on vacation?" Harry asked, as he pulled Severus into lap, wrapped his arms around Severus' waist.

"Yes, I know you take care of me." Severus leaned into his husband's embrace. "It's harder here. So much we want to do and I am enjoying it all. I am, however, used to us being together each night, laying down with my head in your lap. Lucius kneeling at your feet and you taking care of us."

Harry gave him a kiss on the back of his neck. "How about for the rest of the trip we spend our nights in?"

"I would like that but I am not sure if Lucius would." Severus answered.

"Actually I would enjoy it also. I have enjoyed our nightly outings but I, also, missed us just relaxing each night with each other." Lucius responded from the doorway of the dining room. 

"I missed it too." Harry told them. "How does a new rule sound? The new rule being that unless we all agree upon it, no outside night entertainment. We will spend our nights together unless we have something come up." 

"I like that rule." Severus responded. He watched Lucius take his seat next to them. "We have a few more days here, we can still go back to the markets?" 

"I have a feeling we are going to hear that question when we return to Hogwarts." Lucius remarked. He loved the fact that Harry spoiled Severus. why most would assume he would be jealous, he wasn't. He tried to spoil Severus and the man rarely allowed them an opportunity to do so, they took advantage of it when they could. 

"I don't mind." Harry nuzzled Severus neck earning him a moan of pleasure from Severus. "How about we do this bookstore with a cafe and return here afterward and spend the night inside."

"I will pick the wine for dinner and dessert upstairs in our bedroom." Lucius began to plan.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Lucius knew Harry was bored, but Harry and Severus were doing the wine tasting tour for him and he appreciated it. He would have to show Harry how much tonight. They spent last night reconnecting and he felt refreshed. While this was really the first vacation they had taken, it was one they were enjoying and getting close to each other. There was no Ministry, no Kitten, no students, no family or friends to interrupt them.

They were currently listening to the owner of Son Vives winery, Toni, explaining how wine was made and Harry looked like he was making mental notes, most likely forming questions as Toni spoke. He knew Harry wouldn't ask the questions to Toni, but tonight he would expect Lucius to help him understand what Toni spoke about. They had enjoyed walking the grounds and learning more about the wine making. 

After an hour Lucius could see Severus was enjoying the different wines and cheeses, tasting a variety of the local ones. Harry had tried the typical Mallorcan "sobrasada" and clearly didn't like it, judging by his face. Lucius had picked up a few bottles that would be returning home with them. They had the Black and Malfoy Wine Cellars were ones most people spoke about, and he was always looking to improve them. 

He listened some more as Toni, the owner, finished up his explanation. The man was very friendly, and his explanation of wine production very interesting, one Lucius had been enjoying. Since it was a family run winery which used traditional methods versus the other more modern winery, which was larger, Lucius thought they learned more by Toni's method than if they had gone on the more modern winery tour. 

They were in the Serra de Tramuntana mountains and had enjoyed the views of the vineyards. Harry had been taking pictures of the different views as they traveled here. They had taken one of the bus tours to come here. Severus had gotten car sick, he called it. He thought it was a bit weird that the two born of a muggle parent, were the ones who got motion sick. 

Lucius looked at Severus, he walked over to him and leaned into him slightly. "Sev, we need to do something special for our Brat." 

"I agree. What do you believe we should do?" Severus asked. He popped another piece of cheese into his mouth. 

"There is a deserted island close to here, how about we take Kitten there and let him have some fun."

"Potion ingredients?" Severus voice was full of hope. He was eagerly looking forward to experimenting with the new ingredients. He already had some ideas and needed to get a new different types of cauldrons. 

"Yes, I made sure of it. Kitten will enjoy hunting for them." Lucius quietly told him. 

"He will enjoy it." Severus tilted his head towards Harry, who was speaking to one of the workers from the winery. 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________-

Lucius was laughing as they were watching Kitten splash into a pool of water that was at the bottom of a waterfall. The huge lion was clearly enjoying the cool water. "He certainly is enjoying it."

"That he is." Severus replied. When they had apparited to the island, Harry was already in his lion form. They had spent the first-hour gathering ingredients as they walked. When they found the waterfall with a pool of water forming off to the side, Kitten took a running dive into the water. 

"Glad we found this." Lucius quickly transformed their clothes into swimming trunks. "Let's join him." They joined their lion in the water.

After splashing in the water for a while, Kitten tugged Severus towards the waterfall. "What?" Severus asked.

Kitten tugged him closer to the waterfall. "Lucius do you know what he wants?" Severus asked, looking towards Lucius.

"No, but there is something behind the waterfall." Lucius said. "Look at how the water flows." 

Severus watched the waterfall for a few seconds. "There is a cave behind it. The left side is how we can get into the cave." 

Kitten jumped out of the water and started to head to the left side of the waterfall. "Freeze." Severus commanded. "You aren't entering that cave until we make sure it's safe."

Kitten roared at him. "You are going to pay for that tonight, Severus, as I believe Kitten already knows it's safe." Lucius told him. Kitten knocked Severus into the water, as he walked by him. Lucius helped Severus out of the pool of water. "What was that about?"

"Habit. I have been stopping him from doing stupid things all his years at Hogwarts, or so I thought. I always thought I was protecting him, I didn't know about Dumbledore's mess." Severus sighed, as he looked to where Kitten was sitting outside of the entrance. He felt disappointed in himself, they worked so hard to get over their past, and he took a step backward. He walked up the rocks towards their lion. "Harry, I can't say how sorry I am." 

Harry transformed back into himself. "Severus, I accept but you are going to be grounded when we get home. No brewing for fun for two weeks." 

"Yes, Harry. I accept your punishment. I really am sorry." Severus looked at the ground as he hung his head in shame. He really didn't like apologizing, but he knew he had to. Harry and Lucius didn't let him get away with burying things.

Harry pulled Severus into a hug. "You're forgiven, Severus. I know it's a habit, you have spent years protecting me." He held Severus for several minutes, reassuring Severus that he wasn't angry. He released Severus and transformed back into Kitten, he took Severus' wrist and started to pull him towards the entrance.

"Yes, yes, we will explore the cave. I hope we can find some bat droppings." Severus remarked.

Lucius started laughing as he followed them into the cave. Tomorrow they would be heading home, returning to their world where they would have to figure out what Mad-Eye and Kingsley were planning on doing. Tomorrow they would have to return to Hogwarts. He caught up to his two husbands and grinned as Severus was poking around the cave. "You two and potion ingredients." 

"You love us and you know it." Severus remarked, getting a lick from Kitten and then a kiss from Lucius. Kitten started to explore the cave, they could hear him moving rocks with his paws. 

"I do." Lucius finally responded. "Let's go and see what our terror is discovering now."


	11. The Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is after the death of Voldemort

Harry laid in the hospital wing, trying to recover from his wounds. Many of the beds were filled with the survivors. He was separated from the rest, as they didn't want anyone to know he was here. They had already got rid of a few different reporters. Poppy and Minerva had ward Harry's area to keep everyone out but a few. 

Harry had spent the last few days listening to everyone talking about the end of the war, what it meant, but the scary part was how much they seemed to view Harry as an icon, someone to hold up even higher on a pedestal and that scared Harry. The last two years had been a huge awakening for him in so many ways. 

Dumbledore had spent years building the image of Harry James Potter. He allowed all the books to be published, he allowed all stories to keep building. When Harry returned to the wizarding world, Dumbledore pushed Harry's image as a hero even harder, with the yearly test. 

When Augustus, he still didn't know the man's last name (remember he didn't learn it until almost 2 years after the war ended), found him and showed him the truth about Dumbledore, it had hurt. However, the truth allowed him to grow in his magic, got him to Gringotts and got the potions, bindings, compulsions and memory charms removed from him. Harry's magic grew, as did his ability to learn. When he returned after those few months with Augustus, he went to speak to Severus, the two of them went to Lucius. 

They had spent the last two years working on getting rid of Voldemort and Dumbledore. When Dumbledore was dying from the cursed ring, Dumbledore tried to get Severus to kill him instead. Draco had been assigned the task of killing Dumbledore, but Severus and Draco refused to do it when the time came. The man instead jumped from the tower, in full view of the students, as the Death Eaters were already running away from Hogwarts. Severus and Draco, watching from the Tower with Harry, Hermione, and Ron, couldn't believe the man did it.

Dumbledore never realized that Ron and Hermione had been up in the Tower, Harry had them there for backup, to protect Draco and Severus. Ron's words were the best line he heard in a long time. "I don't think that worked out the way he wanted it too."

"Well, Voldemort will believe you did it, and we can make sure those in the Order know you didn't." Hermione leaned against the wall and looked down at her deceased mentor, which she had lost a lot of respect for when she learned the truth about Harry's home life and their adventures. The five of them, with Minerva and Lucius, worked together to end the war. No one knew about Augustus supplying Harry with the Horcrux leads.

"Stop thinking about the past." Severus said as he entered the ward area with Lucius and Minerva. He sat down next to Harry, after giving him a kiss. 

"Is everything all set up?" Harry asked, it had taken most of the past two days to get the three of them to agree to his plan but they finally did. He knew it was the best option. He didn't want to lie to his friends, but he needed to hide and not worry about them being dragged into anything the Ministry might try.

"I am not sure how we can bring Kitten to live in Hogwarts, while you disappear." Minerva stated. "I do, however, agree with the idea of your disappearing." 

"I won't disappear, I will be seen looking for potion ingredients and my friends will also let it out that I am around. We can send photos and stuff to the Daily Prophet, even if I have to hold the previous day's paper to get them to believe me." Harry told her. "Minerva, you know if I stick around, the Ministry is going to turn me into a poster boy for whatever they need to wrangle the wizarding world into a frenzy about something. Listen to them." He pointed to the others in the beds. "They want a superhero, someone that Dumbledore has built up, pushed in front of everyone as the one to follow. I just want to me, just Harry, no Savior, no Golden Boy, no hero."

"What he is saying is true. I have already heard some of the rumors they want to have you promote. Also, Minister Shacklebolt seemed determined to find out who has control over your seats." Lucius stated. "He and Mad-Eye, with a few others, have a plan, I don't know what plan exactly but they do."

"It has to be something Albus laid out. Even after Ron, Hermione and Harry stated the man jumped from the Tower, I heard them say that Albus didn't plan it that way and that the three of them were covering for Severus and Draco for some reason." Minerva stated. "Last time, Mad-Eye said something about Draco and Severus being in a relationship while Ron and Hermione had one, and that they were protecting Harry from the truth about Albus' death."

"I heard something about Hermione and Ron were to get married, how Molly was already making the arrangements, and Harry was to marry Ginny." Lucius stated. "The rumors say that it will be a double wedding and during the summer." He didn't miss the face Harry made at the mention of Ginny. The girl did have a huge crush on Harry but Harry was gay and thought of her as a sister.

"That was the original plan, we found the contracts and got them voided, thankfully Molly and Arthur were willing to listen to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Ginny was insistent that Harry loved her. Kept saying Albus promised her she would be married to him, Molly and Arthur were worried about that and have set her up with a mind healer. They had no idea where she got the idea that she could force Harry to marry her." Severus stated. "The contracts were originally Albus' idea, they said. They were told that Harry was in agreement and asked Albus to set it up, they were created shortly before Albus got hit with the curse, and with everything else, it never got mentioned." 

"So he had Ron married to Hermione, Harry married to Ginny. Draco would be on the run from everyone. Draco, because he didn't follow through with the Dark Lord's plan, and Severus stuck at Voldemort's side until Voldemort killed them both with Harry? That sounds like a plan of his, him and his greater good." Minerva realized the man only cared about his plans and how they would work out, he didn't care if they cost a few lives, as long as the light won.

"The Dark Lord would have taken Hogwarts, but because of Harry not chasing us out of Hogwarts, and we didn't run, he had to change his plans, he had originally planned to lay siege to Hogwarts, once Harry left." Severus explained. "Since the Death Eaters were chased out, Harry remained behind, Draco and I didn't run, he really didn't have much of a choice." 

"Now we have to deal with his plans regarding the aftermath. Have you seen the articles the Ministry has had the Daily Prophet print up? If you weren't here for the Battle of Hogwarts, and if numerous wizards and witches didn't protest, you would have thought the Ministry planned and defeated the Dark Lord." Lucius stated. "Shacklebolt even said in a quote "Mr. Potter was of great assistance, the defeat of the darkest of Dark Lords was a tremendous effort by the Ministry, Hogwarts, and Mr. Potter." Lucius grinned as he said, "the Ministry was flooded with Howlers and the Daily Prophet had to change their tactics the next day."

"When do the funeral start?" Harry asked, changing the subject. He knew there were going to be a lot of services and he was very grateful a lot of his friends survived, not all of them did and he wanted to honor them.

"They have already started, thankfully more survived because of the muggle defenses we added. We lost 29 people on our side, the dark lost almost two hundred." Minerva stated. "Many of the Death Eaters and Voldemort's supporters, including, which didn't surprise me, Dolores Umbridge, are in holding cells. Their trials start next week."

"I will give you my memories, but we need to make the arrangements for my disappearance now." Harry explained. "Something tells me it needs to be done today." His gut was telling him to run, that he needed to get away.

"I will cast a feather-light charm on you, with your cloak on, we will get you to our quarters, you can finish recovering there." Severus stated, the three of them had learned to rely on Harry's gut, it rarely led Harry wrong.

"I have already issued a statement saying you are going to need a few months to recover. Poppy, backed it up and agreed to have a memory charm placed on her. She didn't want to know any of the details." Minerva stated. "She doesn't want to take a chance that Mad-Eye or Kingsley will give her a truth serum."

"Give me a few days, and Kitten will start to make an appearance. Since there were so many animals aiding us from the forest, Lucius and Severus can say I decided to stay." Harry grinned at them. "I already arranged a business license under my name for gathering potion ingredients as an independent contractor."

Lucius pulled out Harry's cloak, Severus cast the feather-light charm as Minerva said: "I will go and take care of Poppy." 

____________________________________________________________________

Kitten was sitting between Lucius and Severus at Colin Creevey's funeral. Draco was holding Hermione's hand, while Ron was standing with Luna and Neville, each of them holding Luna's hand. Minerva was speaking about Colin, how brave he was and how much he meant to those in Gryffindor. His parents, with his brother, were crying but you could see how proud they were of their son. 

After the funeral, Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt, with Mad-Eye Moody approached Minerva, Severus, and Lucius. "Minerva, may I speak to you for a few minutes?"

"I have guests here for Mr. Creevey's funeral, can it wait?" Minerva could see Hermione was speaking to Mr. and Mrs. Creevey as Dennis was speaking to Draco. 

"We were just wondering when was the last time you saw Mr. Potter?" Kingsley asked.

"A few days ago, Poppy mentioned sending him away to recover, he needed some time to recoup and it was suggested he spent time at one of the Potter family houses. I believe most of them are under a Fidelius Charm. I am not sure who the secret keepers are." Minerva answered. "I know she had a few goblins visit him." That was very true, the goblins had spent a few days with Harry going over all his finances, houses and everything else. 

Harry had known after his fifth year that Dumbledore had been stealing from him and fixed his accounts, but since he was going to be hiding for a while, Harry needed to have the goblins set up arrangements for him. Severus and Lucius could see that didn't sit well with the Minister and Mad-Eye. "He has been gone for a few days, he was severely hurt and his magic was depleted," Severus explained. "We aren't sure when he will cast another spell." Not exactly a lie, since Harry as Kitten certainly wouldn't be casting any spells anytime soon. 

"I see. Is there a way to get in touch with Mr. Potter?" Kingsley asked he looked closely at Mad-Eye.

"No, we were told if we needed him to send a message to the goblins and he would try to respond when he finally got the message. He put a redirect on his mail, as I know Miss Granger tried to send an owl and it wouldn't leave." Minerva explained. 

"I see. Please let Mr. Potter know I wish to speak to him." Kingsley said and bid them goodbye.

"Harry was right." Severus quietly said.


	12. Again?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the second-fourth anniversary of Voldemort's defeat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be a continuation of the story, that started on the fifth anniversary.

"Severus, are you bringing your bread pudding for dessert?" Ron's voice filled the sitting room. 

"Yes. I already told Luna I would bring it." Severus answered. "Hermione is going to bring that vegetable thing she makes." 

Everyone made a face, no one really cared for Hermione's cooking, she tried but she was never going to be a good cook. "Don't worry, Dobby is already working on a replacement." Harry said as he entered the room.

It was their weekly Sunday dinner, this time it was going to be at Longbottom Manor. They were about to leave when a poodle Patronus came flying into their quarters. "Aurors will be at Longbottom Manor, don't go." 

"Lucius warn Draco. I will warn Neville. Harry send a message to Minerva." Severus ordered. Soon three Patronus were heading out of their quarters to warn their friends.

They sat down and waited, no one even spoke as Minerva arrived to join them in waiting. They knew there was nothing they could do but also knew there was no danger to their friends and family unless the Aurors were given orders to be put pressure on their friends and family. "It will be fine, they are only doing this because the second anniversary is close." Minerva offered the soft words of encouragement. 

"We still need to figure out what their plans are." Lucius stated. "They haven't done much in the Wizengamot except to keep everything status quo."

"That is what has been bothering me. I mean why keep it status quo? I know Albus had a lot of plans, he was always mentioning his ideas but he never told me them fully." Minerva stated.

"Tea?" Harry asked he didn't want to think about what the Aurors might be doing at his friends' houses. It was his fault and they needed to find out what was going on. Before anyone could answer he was heading to the kitchenette.

"Don't you dare blame yourself." Severus said as he followed Harry into the kitchenette. "This is all Albus "I love to meddle' Dumbledore's fault."

"I know that in one way, but I also know Kingsley and Mad-Eye aren't going to give up. We have to do something, Severus. I don't want them harassing everyone." 

"We will and we are. You know we are working on finding the solution. We have a lot of people who are supporting us. We also have a Rookwood." 

Harry grinned. "We do have a Rookwood and a Dawlish too." 

"Not to mention Draco, Hermione, the entire Weasley clan, Neville, Luna, and the staff here, do I need to go on. Because I also believe we have a lot of Aurors, new and retiring ones who also will aid us." Minerva stated from the doorway. She entered the kitchenette.

"We can include almost anyone who ever attended Hogwarts since Harry's first year." Lucius said joining them in the kitchenette. He pulled out the tin of biscuits, opening it and started putting them on a plate. "The only people who should feel guilty are Kingsley and Mad-Eye, they are making the choice to follow Dumbledore's plan." 

"Exactly." Minerva affirmed. "Now let's have some tea and after the Aurors leave I want you to go and have your Sunday dinner at Longbottom Manor. Who's sent you the warning?"

"I think it had to be Dawlish. Auggie's is a raccoon." Harry answered as they moved back into the sitting room. They were on their second cup of tea when Ron appeared in the floo.

"They are gone. Luna said they will be returning late tonight as a way of hoping to catch us. Can you warn Hermione and Draco? We didn't want to send a Patronus for fear they might be watching the Manor."

"We will let them know. Did they say or do anything?" Lucius asked. Lucius glanced over to Severus and wondered if Kingsley would set up monitoring charms on their floos and mail. It was something that had been done before with Umbridge and Dumbledore did it a few times to certain people. He made a mental note to check when he returned to the Ministry on Monday.

"No, they came in, looked around, Mad-Eye was here, with three other Aurors, they did a quick search and left." 

"They will return tonight when they think we are sleeping." Luna put her head into the floo. 

"We will let Draco and Hermione know, thank you, Luna." Lucius replied. "Ron, do you think they are monitoring the floo network?"

"No, Draco and I have been making sure they aren't. Dawlish put a person in that department to make sure. I will talk to you tomorrow Lucius, we are on duty in the morning." 

Everyone bid everyone a good night and they got the same story from Draco, they also warned Draco about the late-night visit. Draco planned on making sure the wards would give the Aurors a surprise. 

_________________________________________________________________________

During the next few years, it was a yearly event to have their houses searched at random times, usually when they were trying to get wizards to support the Ministry. The mass exodus and numerous people that left the position in the Auror Corps was getting harder and harder to cover up. 

As the word spread, the numbers of Harry sighting spread. It was always false reports, placed by those who knew the real Harry or their families. The muggle-born students and former students had no problem answering Mad-Eye's "concerns" in the newspapers about a mental challenge boy who was missing and his family was searching for him. 

Fred and George created a potion that allowed a person to have the lightning bolt on their foreheads and glasses on. It didn't change their hair, height, voice or anything else. 

Bill and Charlie gave Patronus lessons to people, while Minerva, Rookwood, and Dawlish taught those who wanted lessons on Animagi Transformation. 

Arthur, Percy, and numerous others who worked in the Ministry watched the filings and anything else they could to make sure that Kingsley and Mad-Eye didn't sneak anything by. 

Rookwood created new collars for Kitten each year that would protect him. He also supplied any new information he learned. Dawlish kept track of any Aurors who might fall prey to Mad-Eye and Kingsley's schemes, since the high turnover, he was now in charge of the department. Ron and Draco were considered Senior Aurors now. 

The Sunday dinners happened every week, with a small core group that met to discuss anything new afterward. Minerva was considered the leader, but unlike Dumbledore she let key people know what was going on. 

While they didn't learn what the plan was, they were able to prevent a few things from happening, including blocking more restriction on dark creatures. They thought that Kingsley was trying to build their world the way that Dumbledore wanted it to be. 

As the years went by, they started to build support for those they wanted to be in key positions when they could remove Kingsley from office. They wanted Arthur to be the next Minister so they worked on getting his name and his beliefs out there. Lucius was the biggest aid in that department. 

Now they were worried about what Kingsley and Mad-Eye were planning for something they knew. They already had a raid on Hogwarts and the fifth anniversary was getting closer. They were getting desperate, as many were questioning the Minister's policies.

Rookwood smiled as he looked down at the scrolls he found. He had the answer, now to get it to those who could use it.


	13. Answers and Solutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fifth anniversay

Kitten growled as someone was knocking on their door. "Yes, I know. It's the Aurors, again." Severus snapped as he wrapped his dressing gown around him. Lucius was in the shower, and because of the almost daily visits from the Aurors, Harry had remained as Kitten for over a week so far. The searches were getting earlier and earlier in the morning. 

Severus yanked opened the door. "I am going to file a complaint." He told the unlucky trainee standing at this door. The trainee looked ready to faint at seeing Severus' face.

"Sorry, Snape, but we got another warrant to search." Gendron handed him the parchment. "I tried to delay as long as I could. He wanted a 3 am search." Gendron knew almost all of the Ministry employees were only buying time until Kingsley was out of office. Three more years and he was gone. 

"I would have turned you into potion ingredients if you arrived at that time." Severus commented as he read the parchment. "Kitten would have you used you as chew toys." 

Kitten roared his agreement. "You didn't say Kitten was a bloody lion." The three trainees refused to enter, after eyeing the huge black lion, who was lowly growling at them.

"Where is Malfoy?" Gendron asked as he stepped into the main living area. "Hey Kitten, the wife sent you some fresh deer meat, her brother killed it last week." He pulled out a pouch and handed it to Severus. He knew the man would check it and he didn't blame him. "There is some jerky in there too. I know you like that."

"Bribing the lion, was that in our lessons?" One of the trainees asked the others.

"Shower. I will give it to for breakfast." Severus opened the pouch, and Kitten started nudging the pouch. "Relax, there is enough here for a few meals. I will mix it with some catnip if you don't let Lucius know."

Kitten sat down and nodded his agreement. "Get in here you three." Gendron ordered. "Now, usually for a standard search, we would look everywhere, but seeing as we have been doing this for so long, we know exactly where everything is. Don't break anything, don't destroy anything, don't even knock a piece of parchment to the floor. DO NOT, I am going to repeat this, DO NOT touch Kitten's toys. If you need a reason why ask the Minister and Mad-Eye what happens when you touch Kitten's toys." The memory of Kitten chasing the Minister around the Great Hall was still one of his favorites, and one he showed his family often.

Two of the trainees exchanged looks and at their third one's confusion said: "robes." 

"Those were true stories?" The third one asked.

"Every single one of them." Gendron informed them. He could see that the trainees' estimation of Kitten rose. "He will chase you if you ruin one of his toys. I think he has a collection of rags that were once the Minister's robes." 

Severus waved his hand over to a rug, that was clearly made from knotting the rags together. "Mrs. Weasley makes them for us." He informed them. "So, are you going to wait until Lucius is out of his shower before searching?"

"Be easier."

"Fine, I will put the tea on. He is going to be a while. That man's idea of a quick shower is thirty minutes." Severus muttered as he headed to the kitchenette. 

Kitten went to the hearth and laid on the rag rug, he kept an eye on the three trainees who were walking around the main room. "Usual Gendron?"

"Yes. So how did the kids do in class?"

"Good. They all passed and I know Mira did well on her Potion OWL." Severus answered as he began to set things up for their tea. "I don't have blueberry jam, will peach do?"

"Yes, thank. Mira wants to be a Potion Mistress, you think she has it in her. Howard wants to be a Healer and Aria is still uncertain, she is in her seventh year." Gendron stated.

"I believe Aria was speaking to Lucius about becoming a barrister. He lent her some books, and Minerva provided her with some pamphlets. However, I should also say last week she spoke to Filius about charms." Severus placed the cup of tea in front of Gendron. "Come and get your tea, Kitten." Severus put a large bowl down and Kitten slowly got up and ambled over, but placed himself to watch the trainees as Severus took his seat. 

"He drinks tea." One of the trainees asked.

"Yes, otherwise he is grouchy." Lucius said as he entered the main area. "We had to cut back on his coffee, he got a nasty addiction to caffeine from it." 

"I'll say, chased, what was his name? Mitchells? Olson? for a few hours through the Forbidden Forest."

"It was both of them. They forgot they could apparate, and Kitten thought they were playing." Lucius sat down. "So usual search?"

"Yes, the boys were already warned." 

"Good. Kitten was a bit miffed at Polaski for ruining his ball. I think those robes are the ones that Molly used to make her kitchen rug." Lucius raised a brow at the three trainees as they started to look into the different rooms.

Gendron leaned forward and cast a quick Muffalio. "They plan on doing this nightly for the next few days. Neville and Draco too. Kingsley is looking for a way to get Draco removed from the Aurors. Dawlish saw a paper on Kingsley's desk, they are trying to get approval to search the Burrow and any place else they believe Harry might be hiding in. They are trying to get access to the Potter estates."

"I will alert Ironclaw." Lucius commented.

Gendron removed the Muffalio and they chatted a bit as the three searched. They heard a crash. Kitten started growling and ran into their bedroom. Two of the trainees came out of their rooms they were searching. They looked to where they could hear the growling. "Idiot." Gendron said as the three rose to find out what was broken.

Kitten had the trainee on his back, with the robes hanging from his mouth. On the floor were a broken picture frame and a glass box. "Can one of you get him off of me?" The trainee on the floor whimpered.

"I warned you not to break anything." Gendron stated. "Do you really think Harry Potter was in the box?" 

"It was an accident." 

"I am going to need you to sign a statement about the box, frame, and robes."

"We are well aware of the procedure." Severus commented. "Kitten let him up. Yes, you can keep the robes. No, we are not paying for them." He glared at the trainee. "So don't even try to send us a bill."

_________________________________________________________________________________

Dawlish made sure the area was clear and sent a Patronus off to Rookwood, letting him know it was safe to apparate to Hogwarts. Once he landed, Dawlish cast an invisibility spell on the man before he even fully landed. "Let's go." 

They made their way to the Headmistress' office. They knew everyone was going to be there with the exception of the three people pretending to be Harry Potter in different areas of the country. Since Mad-Eye and Kingsley were so set on catching Harry Potter they had Aurors on duty that was, exclusively, for catching Harry Potter. 

After everyone was settled and had tea, the portraits were frozen, the floo was locked down, Rockwood pulled out a thick scroll. He held it up. "I found this buried in the prophecy section of the Department of Mysteries."

"Not another prophecy." Was heard from around the room.

"No, it's not and I think that is why it took me so long to find it. It's the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Potter, Black, Peverell, Gaunt, and Slytherin Wills."

"I am confused." Ron said. "Weren't they already read at Gringotts?"

"No, none of these Wills have been read. We were only told they were. According to all these Wills, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Potter, Black, Peverell seats were left to Harry by his family. Now the former Dark Lord left the Gaunt and Slytherin seats to Harry, he set it up that if Harry won, he got everything. Including control over the Death Eater's seats. Since he had control over them. The Dark Lord's Will was never read by anyone until I found it."

"What?" Harry asked. "I don't have that kind of power and I don't want it." 

"Why does that involve Kingsley and Mad-Eye?"

"What does that mean he controls the Death Eater seats?" 

Everyone was throwing out questions. Rookwood put his hand up. "Let me explain a few things first then we can have a question time, work on what we want to do, and how to do it." Rookwood waited for their agreement. "Lucius will also be able to guide us on what we will need to do after I explain what I learned."

"If what I think has happened, then I can. It also explains why they are so eager to have Harry under their control." Lucius answered.

"When I read the Wills, I noticed a lot of gifts and the normal things you expect in a Will. However, when it came to who had control over Harry, I found out why the Wills were hidden. Harry was never to go to the muggles, he was actually to go to Sirius Black, first. When he was arrested, three days later, the next people in line were Frank and Alice Longbottom."

"They were his other set of godparents." Minerva explained. 

"After that, well here is where I believe I will need some help in understanding this, because Severus was listed, with Narcissa Malfoy nee Black handling the accounts with him." Rookwood stated.

"Lily was my best friend, as for Narcissa, she was a cousin to James and Sirius. Allowing for the Black blood to be used to protect Harry." Severus explained. 

"That makes sense. Now, the Peverell, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw Wills, they were sealed, not even opened. They were actually to be read by James, but they went missing after his parents' death. When I looked into why they were buried, I found that your grandparents, Harry, left the seats to you and not James. Therefore, when the seats went to James and he assigned them Dumbledore, it was done illegally. James also assigned the Potter seats to the man. Black, when he was released, wasn't allowed to take the Black Lordship, so those seats were actually yours from the time of his arrest. Dumbledore had been using them. Dumbledore actually only had one seat. The rest of the seats he was using were all Harry's. He was using them illegally, for the past twenty plus years."

"Merlin." Everyone was in shock.

"It gets worse. Kingsley has been using those seats. Every single law that has been passed for almost twenty-five years is illegal. All the classes that have been removed, everything Dumbledore has done has been illegal. If we didn't catch this, and it hit the 25th year mark of the last seat assigned from the Potter line, everything would be legal."

"The statute of limitation." Lucius stated. 

"Exactly. It's why they need Harry. They have two years before everything is legal unless they can get Harry to sign off on everything." Rookwood explained. 

"We can't let this out, everyone will panic. They are already claiming Harry is mentally challenged, and you know they will bring up the Horcrux." Minerva couldn't believe everything they were just told.

"Exactly."

"We can Ironclaw to reclaim the seats. Get the Wills read, I believe leave off the Death Eaters being involved, we don't want to give Kingsley and Mad-Eye any ideas." Severus stated.

"We can't use the Gaunt and Slytherin seats until they are dealt with. If we do, they will link it to the Horcrux, claim Harry is the new Dark Lord." Lucius stated.

"Unless Ironclaw can tie them to the Peverell line." Draco stated. "That is where the Dark Lord and Harry's are linked as cousins. It's from the Gryffindor and Slytherin family."

"We have Ironclaw set it up after Harry reclaims his seats."

"He can't claim them unless he goes to the first session of the new year at Wizenagamot." Lucius reminded them.

"Getting them there is going to be a problem." Minerva stated.

"I am not going as Kitten, I want to keep that protected."

"I believe I can help with how to get Harry into the Ministry." Dawlish stated. "I know exactly how we can do it and get him to the Wizengamot." He told them his plan, and after some fine tuning, they were all in agreement.


	14. Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Severus and Lucius discovered Kitten

"Lucius, do you hear that?" Severus asked. They were coming back from a Death Eater meeting and heading to report to McGonagall what they learned.

"No." Lucius answered, but he stopped and looked around. He trusted Severus' instincts. The man had survived being a spy for over twenty years and the Dark Lord still didn't know.

Severus looked around, frowned. He discreetly pulled out his wand, and as he did, he got tackled by a huge lion, who licked his face and started to purr. 

"I am not sure what to make of a huge lion being here in Scotland, tackling you, licking your face, and I believe purring?" Lucius was trying to keep a straight face as he spoke. Severus was on the ground trying to get the lion off of him.

"Get this beast off of me." Severus snarled. "When I find out who you are, I am going to gut you for potion ingredients."

The lion whined at him, but got off and started to frolic around them. He kept rubbing against Lucius and tried to rub against Severus who was glaring at the animal. The lion decided he liked the smell of Severus, stood up on its hind legs, and licked Severus' again. "When I get you back to Hogwarts, your house is going to drop so far below zero in house points, it's going to take three years for them to recover enough to get back to zero."

"Severus, I am not sure that is a student." Lucius stated, trying not to laugh. When he said that, the lion went back on all fours and knocked him down and gave him a lick on the face. "Get off of me."

"Not so funny when it's you getting licked." Severus commented. "Get off of him."

Once the lion got off of Lucius, they started to head towards the castle. The lion walked, technically bounced (like Tigger), with them. One they reached where the Forbidden Forest started, the lion sat down. Severus and Lucius kept walking. "Where did the annoyance go?" Severus asked. They had noticed the lion wasn't with them after taking about ten strides.

"I am not sure. He can't have any ill will, the wards wouldn't have allowed him to get to the edge of the forest." The wards ended about fifty meters into the forest. 

"You don't think it's a student?" Severus asked.

"No, we would have heard about it, at his size it would be impossible to hide." 

"True." They saw a pile of things on the ground on the trail at the entrance to the Forest. They went back and looked. 

"A locket? A cup?" Lucius asked. 

Severus pulled out his wand again and started to run scans on the items. "Nothing." 

"Why did he leave them?" 

"I don't know. Let's take them to Minerva." Severus pulled out a pouch and using a spell put the items into the pouch. They heard a roar and they started towards Hogwarts.

____________________________________________________________________________

"He's back." Severus stated as they were walking from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. 

Lucius didn't doubt Severus for a second and before could say anything they were on the ground with a lion licking their faces. "Sweet Mother of Merlin, get off of me." Severus snapped. 

"This lion has to be on something." Lucius was trying to push the heavy beast off of them, but the lion was purring and licking them when suddenly it was gone as quick as it appeared. 

They stood up and found off to the side of the well-worn path, Nagini dead, along with a diadem. "Severus, I think we have an answer on who our lion is."

"Yes, we do." Severus stated. "It also explains why he was so furious." They had been returning from a meeting and the Dark Lord had killed two outer circle members who were to guard Nagini. They didn't know the snake was missing, they just knew they were the snake's guards. Wormtail had been crurioed so badly they weren't sure if the rat would make it. 

The only reason they had escaped being cursed was that they had been at Hogwarts. Severus serving as the Headmaster, Lucius as one of the Professors. Minerva was aware of their true alliance and it seemed Harry Potter was too. "I wonder how he knows?"

"I am not sure. I thought after that scene in the tower, he would want to kill me." Severus answered.

"We better deal with the corpse, before anyone sees it." Lucius and Severus pulled out their wands and cast an Incendio on the corpse. "That snake gave all snakes a bad name."

Severus quietly agreed. They pondered what they learned as they finished their journey to Hogwarts, and how they were going to be able to inform Minerva without anyone else finding out. It was getting harder and harder to met with her without raising the curiosity of the Dark Lord's followers, students and Death Eaters alike.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Severus was gathering potion ingredients in the middle of the Forbidden Forest when he heard purring. He looked around and found the lion staring at him, with a snake curled up on the top of his mane. "Potter." The lion meowed at him. "I can't speak to you as a lion."

The lion let out a few weird cat sounds and the snake slithered to the ground. Snape watched the lion transform into Potter. "I don't have much time. Take the snake. If you need to find me, he will be able to. Tell him any message, he will pass it on. If I stay human for too long the snatchers will find me. Tell Minerva they are all collected. I need to know when it is time to fight him. I have collected all six."

Severus knew what he wasn't sure how to tell Potter, Dumbledore's final instructions, but before he could, Potter continued. "The Horcrux in my scar is gone. The goblins handled it. Just get me a date. I will check in again." Potter transformed back and disappeared into the woods.

________________________________________________________________

The lion made it's way to the Shrieking Shack. He saw Severus, Lucius, and Minerva waiting for him. He rubbed against Severus' leg. "Potter!" Severus ground out.

Harry meowed. The snake slithered behind Harry.

"Hello, Harry." Minerva stated. "We know you can't transform, but everyone is ready. The twins have weapons and defensive potions ready for us to use. Mad-Eye and Kingsley have been able to get things out of the Ministry for us to be able to trap the Death Eaters, so they can't fight."

Harry gave a few different sounding meows. Minerva glanced at Severus and Lucius. "He wants to know if You-Know-Who has been focusing creating more Horcruxes?"

"No, he has been extremely upset with his followers. He cursed Bella last week." Lucius answered.

Harry meowed. 

"I agree, we do need to move forward before he creates more, now that he knows even the one in Gringotts is gone." Minerva stated. "You know he is going to do something on the Summer Solstice."

"Agreed. He is to set on his rituals not to." Severus stated. "I also wouldn't be surprised if he had a yearly event planned. I know he still has Bella in the dungeons. So the Carrow Twins have been summoned to him a lot."

"Strike first?"

Harry nodded his head.  
______________________________________________________________

Potter looked around, Voldemort was dead, everyone was rejoicing as well as mourning. Aurors were arresting those who were on Voldemort's side. Potter saw Severus and made his way over to him. "I need to hide."

"Why? Afraid the attention of the Wizarding World will fade if they don't have to search for you?" Severus glared at the boy.

"No. I never wanted to be famous and I know they will try to use me as some type of icon. Are you going to help?"

"Yes, transform into your lion form. Hide in the forest, We will slowly bring my pet lion into existence." Severus said. Severus realized he needed to say something, something he should have said ages ago. "I know you aren't your father. You are very much like your mother. I do have one question before you into hiding, why haven't you tried to kill me after I murdered your idol? You chased me out of the tower, you fired my own curse back at me."

"I know. I thought I deserved an award for that acting. I almost did hit you, Draco moved to close to you and you stepped into the line of my first spell I was going to cast, thankfully, I wanted to make it look good, so I had waited a bit." Harry replied. "I knew Dumbledore was dying, I saw his hand. I knew Draco was into deep, and you got dragged into whatever it was and Dumbledore being him, used it against you."

Severus smirked. "I believe we are going to be speaking about your hidden Slytherin side."

Harry grinned. "Good, I can't wait to tell you about how I got the Gringotts dragon to create a distraction while I stole the cup out of Bellatrix's vault. You too, Lucius and Minerva."

"I am eager to hear those tales." Lucius grinned. "You better disappear, the Aurors have a lot of questions for you and I heard Mad-Eye mention something about getting your victory out to the populous." 

Harry transformed and trotted into the Forbidden Forest. They watched him go. "I have a feeling we are going to be seeing a lot of that lion." Lucius commented.


	15. They Go Boom!

Harry glared at Lucius. "I can't believe this."

"It's not that bad." Lucius commented. He knew Severus was taking pictures. Harry was dressed in robes that only Dumbledore would have worn. He thought they even have been Dumbledore's robes. Minerva had provided the robes for them to use.

"Lucius I am wearing red, dancing, I think, zebras, with gold instrument playing lions, on a green robe. I know she picked this for a reason."

"Everyone is ready. Minerva gave everyone one of Albus' robes to wear. They are going to apparite to the outside of the Ministry in ten minutes. Hermione and I gave everyone a full flask of poly-juice."

"I am surprised I am not bald." Harry muttered.

"Stop whining. You could look like him too." Severus commented.

"Let's get you into one of his old robes and see how you feel." Harry threw up his hands. "You better not have a single picture." He warned.

"It's almost time." Lucius didn't want Harry to find out about the pictures. He saw Harry give them both looks. 

Harry headed out to their living area. There was everyone looking like Harry. It was going to be the same plan they used before, except this time, Harry was heading to the Ministry. 

"You may start leaving, I have taken down the wards for here." Minerva stated. They had a timetable to keep.

_______________________________________________________________

Lucius, Severus, with Harry looking like Dumbledore made their way to Hogsmeade. Once there they waited for the tell-tale signs of apparitions going off. They apparated to one of the flats near the Ministry that was owned by Dawlish. 

They stood looking out the window and watched Aurors exiting the Ministry. Dawlish exited and waited outside of the Ministry. They watched a variety of people nod at Dawlish. "That is the head of the trainee program, the one in the black with silver robes. The one who is next to him is the current second shift supervisor of the minor crimes division." He went down the list. When it was clear that the Ministry was now empty of Aurors, Dawlish left, which was the signal.

Severus handed Harry another poly-juice potion, as Lucius pulled out a new set of robes for Harry to wear. They were the robes of one of the Unspeakables. They started their journey to the Ministry. At the telephone booth, Harry put his hand out. "If we get caught, I want the two of you to get out if you can. It will do us no good if the three of us are in Azkaban or someplace else Shacklebolt or Moody might have set up."

They were going to protest, at first, but realized Harry was right. They nodded their agreement. Lucius punched the code into the phone. Rookwood just happened to be by the lifts when they exited, and they quickly got everyone signed in, Harry used his legal name. 

"The session was delayed in starting like we hoped." Rookwood stated. "Shacklebolt and Moody almost ran to the Minister's office when the reports started."

"Let's get to the Wizenagamot. The Unspeakable?" Lucius asked. 

"Ready. The guards in Wizenagamot are all the ones who are very unhappy with Shacklebolt and Moody. Dawlish picked them for that very reason." Rookwood started. As they walked it appeared as if two Unspeakables were assisting Lord Malfoy, as they kept passing the same roll of parchment between the three of them. 

At the entrance to Wizenagamot, they saw Ron and Draco standing by the doors, on guard duty. Draco tilted his head to indicate that the Minister and Moody hadn't returned. Harry sighed in relief, their plan was working so far. The hardest part was over. He was here for the new session of the Wizenagamot.

They entered the room, and no one noticed them Lucius headed for his seat. Severus sat down in the Prince seats and Harry walked to the founders' seats. As soon as he sat down, everyone stopped talking. Harry slowly removed his hood, revealing himself to the Wizenagamot. Madam Bones looked at Lucius, she rose from her seat. "Mr. Potter, it's a pleasure to welcome you to the opening of the 473rd session of the Wizenagamot."

"Pleasure is all mine." Harry rose and gave her a bow. "I am honored to be here."

"As Chief Warlock, I have the pleasure of introducing myself, Lord Lucius Maximum Malfoy-Potter, the shortened form is registered as Lord Malfoy. My husband Lord Severus Tobias Prince Snape-Potter, the shortened form is registered as Lord Severus Snape. My other husband Lord Harrison James Gryffindor Ravenclaw Slytherin Peverell Potter-Black, the shortened form is registered as Lord Potter-Black." Lucius pulled out of robes the rolls of parchment to reflect the changes, including a copy of their bonding certificate.

Percy Weasley stepped forward and took the paperwork. He handed it to Madam Bones who reviewed it, clearly ignoring the gossip that had started at Lucius' introductions. "All is in order, any objections from the members of the Wizenagamot?" No one objected, and Madam Bones smiled. "We welcome our two newest Lords." 

Lord Greengrass rose from his seat, he faced Harry. "Lord Potter-Black, I welcome you, and I do have a question, if you could answer it, I would appreciate it."

"I thank you, Lord Greengrass, I can not know if I am able to answer it until I hear the question." Harry replied.

"Thank you. The question is rather simple, why haven't you taken your seats before now?"

"I didn't know they existed." Harry answered, sweetly. He loved Rookwood's plan. Voices erupted in anger around the room. 

Madam Bones banged her gavel. "Order, order, or I will have to have eject people." She warned. She did love how Harry phrased it. Simple and honest. When Rookwood had shown her what happened, she agreed to help.

Harry rose from his seats. "If you will indulge me, I can explain, with evidence to back up all I say." Harry started to remove items from his robes as everyone waited for him to speak. "I entered this world when I turned 11. I didn't know I was a wizard until that day. I won't bore you with the events at Hogwarts, as enough has been written about my school years. I will, however, stated that I was unaware of everything but the Potter seats, which I had assigned to my husband Lord Malfoy." Harry presented the evidence. "That shows I submitted the change of seat assignment when I turned eighteen, the 31st of July, 1998."

Percy made copies as he received the document and sent it around to the members. "The record shows the change was official on 4th of August 1998." Percy returned to stand by Harry. He knew there was going to be more. He had always wondered about Potter and the seats. 

"I was just informed of new information. The biggest part is that none of the Wills for my seats were ever read. The goblins sent out the notices, however, the Wills were sealed before they could be opened. For over 20 years, the seats have been assigned to someone who had no right to use them. The only seats he had the right to were the Potter seats as my father assigned them to him. My father was unaware of the founders' seats, along with the Peverell. I was the Black heir and never knew. When my Godfather, who had blood-adopted me as a child died, the seats should have come to me, but I was forbidden from attending the Will reading." Harry handed the Goblin certified parchments to Percy. 

"Who?" Was heard around the room. 

Madam Bones rose. "I am sad to say the person responsible was killed during the war. The evidence, as you can see is clear, all show that Albus Dumbledore was the one who was responsible. After careful examination by the Goblins, my own department, with the assistance from the Unspeakables, we found numerous laws will have to be reviewed."

"Who knew about this?" Lord Greengrass demanded.

"Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, Albus Dumbledore and we are not exactly sure how much Kingsley Shacklebolt had, we do have evidence that he is aware of the illegal seat assignment, but we can not determine how long he has been aware." Madam Bones stated. "Mr. Weasley is going to supply you with a variety of reports. The first report is the numerous attempts are trying to locate Lord Potter, including a memory we will be able to review of the Minister and Moody illegal activities regarding Lord Potter. The second report is the expenses the Ministry has paid for in regards to those activities, including setting up a house, with wards. The wards are listed on the last page. The third report shows a copy of a contract that the Minister attempted to use on Lord Malfoy and Lord Snape. The fourth report shows a long record of bills and laws that we now have to review. I omitted the bill or laws that the seat assignments won't be affected by."

"What Wills are in question?" Lord Greengrass asked. 

"The Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Potter, Black, Peverell, Gaunt, and Slytherin Wills. The Dark Lord left everything to Lord Potter. In the review of the Wills, Tom Marvolo Riddle, Lord Voldemort, believed that Harry Potter was a worthy enemy and believed the as the victor, he got the spoils." Madam Bones stated. "The Goblins have agreed to submit copies of the Wills since they have been official read."

No one spoke for a long time, all you heard was the sounds of shock, parchment being shuffled around, and quills making notes on the reports.

"Where are the Minister and Mr. Moody?" A few voices demanded as they set the reports down.

"In the Minister's office. Lord Potter-Black arranged, with his friends' assistance, to have multiple citings today, so that he could make his way here without the Aurors department trying to arrest him." Lucius answered. 

"I need the approval of the Wizenagamot to have them arrested." Madam Bones stated. "I petition the Wizenagamot a motion to issue an arrest warrant for Kingsley Aaron Shacklebot and Alastor Devon "Mad-Eye" Moody for voting fraud, illegal usage of seats, illegal use of the Ministry funds, and illegal use of their positions and any other charges we discover as we interview them, and the evidence leads to."

"Motion presented." Percy announced.

"Seconded." Was spoken by almost all. Some were still in shock at what they were reading. 

"Motion carried." Percy announced. 

Ron and Draco grinned and opened the doors. Minister Shacklebolt and Moody stormed in. "I ought to have your jobs." Shacklebolt informed them.

"I am sure, and I know I am going to enjoy this." Draco commented. "Minister Shacklebolt, Mr. Moody, you are under arrest for voting fraud, illegal usage of seats, illegal use of the Ministry funds, and illegal use of their positions." Ron snapped the cuffs on Moody before Draco even finished speaking. Draco held out the cuffs for Shacklebolt. "Please try it."

Shacklebolt looked around the room. "POTTER!" 

"Hello." Harry waved.

Draco snapped the cuffs on Shacklebolt as almost everyone in the Wizenagamot had their wands drawn and pointed at the Minister. 

______________________________________________________

Lucius and Severus were watching everyone in the Great Hall having fun. Everyone who had assisted was currently laughing and talking. They brought their families. Kitten was giving some of the small children lion rides. "Harry seems happy." Minerva joined them. 

"Yes. Now he doesn't have to hide, not that I think he will be out in public a lot." Lucius stated.

"I agree." Minerva replied. "He was never one for his fame."

Severus didn't reply but instead walked towards Kitten. He removed the little girl. "I would like to dance with my husband."

Harry transformed. "So would I." He pulled Severus to him. "Our first public dance. You're turning into Lucius." He whispered.

"Don't get mushy." Severus replied as Harry took the lead. "If you tell anyone it's our first dance I will show them the pictures of you as Albus."

Harry laughed. "I already destroyed them, including the ones you thought you hide in your potion lab, your office desk, your hidden drawer in the file cabinet in your office, and the ones you meant to send to Gringotts."

"You missed one."

"No, I already removed the ones from your wardrobe, including the ones you tried to hide in your boots." Harry smirked. "I also got the negatives." 

Severus closes his eyes. "I didn't remove my scent or the chemical smell."

"Exactly." 

"I did." Lucius stated from behind them. "My turn after this dance."

Severus smirked as he saw Harry hid his own smirk. He knew Harry had found the pictures Lucius had hidden.


End file.
